Unbelievable
by Lexi.Ever
Summary: They have been stuck in the Naruto world for months now, but things are about to change. The girls will learn more about themselves and their pasts and what ties them to this world. How will they handle these revalations? Read and find out! Sequel to my story Unreal.
1. Chapter 1: Mizuki

**A/N: I'm back! I'm sure everyone is excited for the first chapter! I decided to change things up for the sequel. I've reversed the order so now it will be Mizuki, Katsumi, Yori, Yumi, Rika, and then finally Lei. Also, I am going back to having set days when I will update this story because I do have other stories and I am planning on starting two more and I need to be able to update those as well. So I will be updating twice a week, once on Wednesday and once on Sunday. Please review and enjoy!**

**Chapter 1: I'm Back!**

_Mizuki_

I felt my eyes flutter and I opened them, letting the light fill my vision. Where the heck was I? I tried to look around, but I was being held tightly in someone's arms. The world around me was blurred, but I could see trees and grass, meaning I was out of the mountains. That was when it all came back. Itachi! I began to squirm trying to get away from whoever was holding onto me.

"Hey! Calm down!" I looked up then and I felt my eyes get bigger...like dish-sized big. I felt like Puss and Boots when he wanted to look like a cute little kitty, but really was about to kick someone's butt.

"Holy mother..." I muttered. He frowned.

"What? I'm not that scary looking am I?" Suigetsu asked. I shook my head quickly and then remembered why I had freaked out in the first place. Stupid forgetful brain!

"Where's Itachi?" I asked in my best panicked voice. Everything that had happened came back to me in a rush. I remembered telling Sasuke everything, him attacking Itachi, me punching Sasuke...everything. Did Sasuke listen to me?

"Sasuke has him. I'm actually not surprised, he never kills anyone," Suigetsu said, sounding a little disappointed. I stretched my hand up and slapped him in the head.

"I'm glad he's not going to!" I snapped. Suigetsu rolled his eyes and kept running. He actually didn't seem that bad in person. To be honest, when I first saw him, he scared the snot out of me. There was just something about his presence that scared me, it was pretty ridiculous. I actually had nightmares about him before where he would come out of some random body of water and drag me down and I would drown.

"Relax, jeez," he said rolling his violet colored eyes. That was when I remembered where we were going. The second we hit Konoha we would be attacked and I don't think Itachi had that kind of time left.

"Stop!" I screamed wiggling a little bit. Suigetsu jumped a little bit, almost letting go of me, and stopped moving. I looked around noticing Karin and Sasuke, with Itachi on his back, looking like he had already died.

"What do you want?" Karin snapped. I glared at her and then moved my eyes back to Sasuke.

"The second you guys enter Konoha, they are going to attack you, but they might not attack if was just me and Itachi," I told him. Actually I didn't know that, but I knew we would have more of a chance. I just hoped that someone at the gate recognized me. Sasuke leaned his brother against a rock. Itachi looked pale, and blood stained his cloak and there was a line of blood coming from his mouth. If he wasn't dead, he would be if I didn't hurry the heck up.

"How can I trust you to take care of him?" Sasuke asked me. I glared at him.

"If it weren't for me you would have killed him so you had better close that mouth of yours before I go crazy on your duck-butt hair styled butt," I snapped. Suigetsu started laughing.

"I think I like her," he said through his laughter. I resisted the urge to smile, trying to keep my 'Ima-Beat-You' face on. Finally Sasuke sighed.

"Fine, but this changes nothing. I will always hate Konoha for what they did to my brother, what they made him become. Because of Konoha, I almost killed him. I will avenge him," he said. I rolled my eyes. He gestured for his team to follow him and they were gone, leaving me alone with Itachi. I moved over to him quickly and grabbed him. He was a lot heavier than I thought, but I still managed to lift him off the ground.

Because I was shorter than him, his feet dragged the ground a bit, but for the most part I didn't let any other part of him touch the ground. It wasn't long before I finally saw the gate to the village. Posted at the front were too guards and...was that Rika? Why was she with Guy and Lee? I shook my head, who cares? If she was there then that meant I wouldn't have to put up a fight.

"Rika!" I called. She turned her head and I saw he eyes widen as she took in my appearance. It probably looked like I had been chewed up and spit out...ew. That wasn't really a pleasant thought was it?

"Mizuki?" she said as I stopped at the gate.

"I need Tsunade," I told her. Guy looked at me and then looked at Itachi.

"Is that...Itachi Uchiha?" he asked. I nodded and then looked at him.

"He's not what you think," I snapped. Guy nodded at Lee to go get the Hokage and he shot off. I heard him and Rika talking, but I was too focused on Itachi to hear them. In a moment I was surrounded. Tsunade had come and with her was everyone. All of my friends. I shifted over while Tsunade knelt down next to me.

"You had better have a good explanation for this!" she snapped.

"I'll tell you, but first you have to heal him!" I commanded. She hesitated for a moment and looked at all of my friends. They all nodded, showing their support in my judgment and then she nodded. I let out a sigh of relief as she began to try and bring him back. I waited, holding my breath. I felt Katsumi's hand rest on my shoulder and Rika and Lei move beside me. Then I heard Tsunade sigh and my heart broke.

"I've been able to heal his wounds from battle, but I can't heal his sickness, it goes too deep," she told me, looking at me. I could tell she was sorry, but at the same time I could almost hear her words telling me that it was for the best. I couldn't help it, I felt the tears slipping and before I knew it I was crying. It felt like I was being broken in two. I couldn't lose Itachi. I couldn't.

"Maybe I could try," I heard a quiet voice say. I looked up and saw Yori through my tears, her eyes were soft and caring, she was the same Yori I had left, but I could tell that I was different. Yes, I was still me, still Mizuki, but I felt older.

I watched as Yori moved forward and knelt down in front of Itachi. She held her hands over Itachi and at first, like Tsunade's, they were glowing green, but then the color began to shift. I watched as it turned from green to blue to purple. I heard Tsunade gasp and I looked back at Itachi. His eyes had finally opened. Yori had done what the Hokage couldn't. She had saved Itachi's life.


	2. Chapter 2: Katsumi

**A/N: So for this first day I'm going to be posting a lot just to keep the story rolling before I switch to the schedule. Also, once on the schedule I will do double chapter days as I hit certain marks. The first mark will be when I hit 20 reviews, so be sure to review! **

**Chapter 2: Breaking Point**

_Katsumi_

As Shikamaru and I walked back, I felt it happening again. I was having, what I had started calling, a future flash. My vision went black and I saw Mizuki carrying Itachi approaching the village gate. I saw Rika, with Guy and Lee, then time moved forward and Tsunade was crouched over Itachi. She shook her head, silently saying that there was nothing she could do. Then I watched Itachi slowly die and Mizuki...she had become a different person.

She looked sad, empty and soulless. She wasn't our Mizuki anymore. I watched as she placed the noose around her neck and jumped. She killed herself. Then finally I saw a picture of Yori. Yori could keep all of this from happening. I knew it. As my vision cleared I looked up at Shikamaru who had knelt down next to me, his eyes worried.

"We ned to find Yori," I told him. He reached out and brushed my face, bringing my attention to the fact that I had started crying. For a moment, I let my worry melt away and just enjoyed the feel of his hand on my face, but then I stood and wiped my own eyes. I knew I had to start distancing myself from him, so that when he moved on and fell in love with someone else, I wouldn't fall a part.

"Do you know where she is?" he asked me. I shook my head.

"Knowing her, she's probably with Kiba so if we find Kiba, we can find her," I told him. He nodded and we started off, starting towards the training grounds. I didn't know how much time we had, so I had to hurry. I kept seeing Mizuki's face before she had jumped. Would I look like that if Shikamaru died? Empty, lifeless? I had my friends didn't I? But then, so did Mizuki.

I shook my head. I couldn't think about this now, I needed to find Yori so we could save Mizuki.

"Katsumi?" I heard a voice say. I turned, it was Yumi. For a moment I forgot about everything and I ran at her. It had been so long since she had disappeared. I had almost forgotten how much I missed her. I grabbed her in a hug and squeezed her tight.

"Yumi! I missed you!" I told her. I felt her hand touch my hair and I pulled away and looked at her, I mean really looked at her. She seemed different. She reminded me of Mizuki in my vision. She looked empty. That was when my mission came back to me.

"Mizuki!" I gasped, remembering. Yumi gave me a confused look.

"What about Mizuki?" she asked, but it was too late, I had already started off, Shikamaru following me. Yumi, still wanting to know what was going on, came along. This time we headed towards the house. We both burst through the door, interrupting Lei and Yori who had been talking. My eyes found Yori's, she seemed confused and shocked. I raced over to her and grabbed a hold of her shoulders.

Instantly, I was grabbed by a strong pair of hands, their claws digging into my skin. I looked up and my gaze met Kiba's. I had never really been afraid of Kiba, but in that moment I was. He looked like he was ready to kill me. I watched as his face went from fierce to surprised in an instant. I looked at Yori, who just looked horrified.

"Kiba, she is here for Yori," I heard Shikamaru say from behind me. I watched him grit his teeth and let go of me as if someone was forcing him to let go. Shikamaru must have had him in the shadow possession jutsu, saving me.

"Kiba, it's only Katsumi," Yori's soft voice said. He looked over at her and Shikamaru released him. I watched him reluctantly move to Yori's side as she kept her worried eyes on my.

"What's wrong Katsumi?" she asked. I shook my head, trying to restart my heart.

"It's Mizuki, she's coming back and she's going to need you," I told her. In a moment we were all out to door. Yumi, Yori, Lei, Shikamaru, and Kiba, they were all coming with me to save Mizuki. As we were running we came across the Hokage, we all stopped.

"Lady Hokage," Yori said respectfully.

"Guys?" We all looked over and caught sight of Rika...who looked like she had been through the ringer.

"What the hell is going on?" Yumi said, sounding like herself for the first time since she had been back.

"Mizuki's back and she had Itachi with her, but he's dying," Rika started.

"And I had a vision and if we don't all get there soon he's going to die and that will inadvertently kill Mizuki," I said finishing it.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Lei said in an impatient tone. We all nodded and followed after her to the front gate of the village. Once we were there everything played out like in my vision only after Tsunade failed Yori stepped in and saved him.

I watched as Tsunade took Itachi to the hospital with Mizuki following close behind. She didn't even say anything to me, or to any of us for that matter. Everyone else dissolved after that too. Yori, Yumi, and Kiba all went one way while Rika and Lei headed back to the house. Once they were gone it was like everything hit me at once. All the pain, stress, and worry came crashing down on my shoulders.

I felt the first of the tears slip from my eyes, starting the waterfall. I began sobbing, and when I say sobbing I don't mean pretty girl crying where they still look beautiful after they cry, I mean, shoulder racking, eyes swelling shut, hiccuping so bad I can't speak crying. I couldn't stop either, once I had started I wouldn't stop until all the water is out of my system and I dehydrate myself.

"Katsumi?" I looked up, still crying of course. Oh no...this was exactly what I needed. It was Shikamaru. Of course, he just had to be here when I'm ugly crying. I knelt down next to me, he looked like he wasn't sure what to exactly, he reached out a hand and smoothed down my bun. I could tell it was supposed to be comforting, but instead it was like his hand got caught in small tangles and my hair was ripping out.

"Yo-you..ca-ca-can...ta-ke..it...dow-down...if yo-you want," I choked out, my hiccups interrupting me. He seemed a little unsure, but I felt his hands in my hair again, freeing it from it's bun, letting it spill around my shoulders. Not really thinking, I moved closer to him, leaning my head against his chest. He stiffened, but his hand kept moving through my hair. It took him a couple moments to relax, but finally he did.

I'm not sure how long I cried, but finally, when I was all cried out, I just stayed where I was, without moving. One question kept circling around in my head. Why did he stay?

"Shikamaru?" I said, my voice hoarse from all of the crying.

"Hm?"

"Why did you stay?" I asked. He was quiet for a moment.

"Because you stayed for me. I was returning the favor," he said. I felt my heart crack just a tiny bit. I should have known.


	3. Chapter 3: Yori

**A/N: Here's Yori's chapter. I'm sorry if the beginning of the story isn't very good, I promise it'll get better, just stick with it! Also, this chapter may be a little short and for that I'm sorry, but, again, just bear with me. =) Oh and I'll switch to yhe scheduled updates after I post the first cycle.**

**Chapter 3: A New Beginning**

_Yori_

"Yumi, there's something wrong, isn't there?" I asked. There was no use in beating around the bush, I could tell that something was wrong. Yumi was my twin, I had known he all of my life. I knew when she was hiding from everyone, I even knew when she was hiding from herself.

She looked at me. Her blue green eyes saddened and troubled. I hadn't seen her look that way since our parents left us. I still remembered how after they had left she had curled up and retreated into herself, kind of like how she was doing now. It wasn't until I had been attacked at school that she had snapped out of it. From that point on Yumi had always been by my side, she was my protector, but now...

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said. I could feel the denial in her tone. She did know, she just didn't want to admit it. I sighed, it was just like her to do this.

"Yes, you do. What happened to you?" I asked heer. I was beginning to think that maybe she had gotten hurt, or that someone had done something to her. I was afraid for my sister, my twin. She looked at me, her abnormal eyes blazing.

"Nothing happened!" she snapped. I flinched a little but, but I didn't let my eyes leave hers.

"Yumi," I said. The fire faded from her eyes and she looked away.

"I shouldn't feel like this," I heard her mutter. I cocked my head to the side, confused.

"Shouldn't feel like what?" I asked her. She looked at me again and sighed. I could tell she was finally going to talk to me. I tried not to let my eagerness show, and waited for her to continue. I knew that this would be hard for her, she had never really been very good at sharing her feelings. She even had a hard time telling me that she loved me, even though I knew she did.

"I shouldn't miss him so much! I mean, I didn't even want to be there, I wanted to stay with you, but...I should hate them for taking me away from you!" Yumi snapped, facing me. Her eyes were troubled, I placed my hand on her cheek.

"But you don't," I told her simply. It was so plain to see now, I wondered why I didn't notice it sooner.

"No...I don't," she admitted reluctantly. I nodded. Now we were getting somewhere.

"Yumi, tell me, what happened when you were taken away from here?" I prompted. She looked at me and then looked away, sitting down and leaning her back against a tree. I sat down next to her, anxiously awaiting the story. Not a day went by when she was gone that I didn't at least wonder what had happened to her.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. I waited. I was willing to let her take as much time as possible to tell me everything. Like I had mentioned before, talking about things wasn't exactly Yumi's strong suit. She kept everything locked up inside of her, it was one of the reasons she was so aggressive. This time was different though. I felt as if my sister would break if she didn't talk about what was going on in her head this time.

"After I had yelled at you, I felt so bad and guilty. I ran away," she started. I reached out and grabbed her hand. She squeezed it, but she didn't look up at me.

"I'm not really sure what happened, it was like I closed my eyes and just opened them somewhere else. That was when the Akatsuki found me," I let out a small gasp. That had been what I was afraid of.

"It was Hidan and Kakuzu. I'm not sure why, but Kakuzu recognized me and he had Tobi and Deidara look after me until he could remember where he had seen me before. I have to admit, I was pretty determined to escape at first, but I realized, very shortly after meeting Deidara, that there would be no way I could escape. If I knew how to control that super speed thing, maybe I could've, but I didn't." She paused and smiled sadly. It was like she remembered a fond memory.

"I was with them most of the time and it...it was kind of...fun sometimes. I would watch Deidara and Tobi fight all the time and then sometimes I would even get dragged into them and have to kick both of them in the butts. We would camp and late at night I would sometimes talk to Deidara. It's funny he's actually not as scary as you think. Though he is a little unhinged. I guess I...I..." she stopped, unable to say anymore. She didn't need to finish though. I understood.

"You care for them," I said. She looked at me then, she seemed a little surprised that I had figured it out, but it was obvious. She missed them.

"I guess I do," she said, looking away again. I smiled at her and squeezed her hand just a little tighter.

"Then go back," I told her. She gasped and looked at me, with panic in her eyes.

"But what if they were only nice to me to get me to trust them so they could betray me! They were after Lei and they could be after all of us! I'm not safe with them," she said. Her tone sounded desperate and confused. I frowned. Was that true? Were we being pursued? I shook my head, that wasn't important right now. I needed to help my sister.

"Yumi, you have to give them that chance. Deidara and Tobi may be evil, but they could also care for you. You need to go back. I hate seeing you sad and if being with them makes you happy, then go," I told her simply, even though inside my heart was aching. I had missed my sister and I wanted to have her back, but things were changing. I felt it in my heart, Yumi had to go back.

"But, what if they are after us? What if they betray me?" she asked me in a small voice.

"Then fight back, but you still need to take the chance. If you don't, then you'll never be happy." I stood and walked away. Leaving my sister to think on her own. I knew she was going to go back, and even though I didn't know when I would see her again I wasn't worried. Something in me knew that she would be alright.


	4. Chapter 4: Yumi

**A/N: And now we are onto Yumi's chapter. I really want to get through this first cycle soon because once I get through it everything will flow much better. I just had trouble transitioning everything. I actually rewrote everything four or five times before settling on what you've read already. Oh and I purposly left the flashback out of the first story.**

**Chapter 4: Hiding**

_Yumi_

I watched Yori walk away from me, wondering when she had gotten so old. She used to be so quiet and sweet. She was like an innocent child, but now..it was like she had out grown me. I wondered what she had gone through while I was with the Akatsuki. I remembered seeing Kiba jump to her defense when Katsumi ran at her. At least I knew that no matter what I did she would have someone to protect her.

For a moment I felt a little jealous of Kiba. I had grown up with Yori, saved her from everyone's harsh words, and now it was like I was being replaced. She didn't need a protector anymore. It made me realize that, that was all I had been to her. I never tried to be her friend, I didn't even try to be her sister, just her protector. For a moment I wished I could change my past and fix our relationship, but there was nothing I could do now.

I stood up. What was I going to do? Should I stay? Sould I leave? Yori was right, I did miss Tobi and Deidara, but was it really safe for me to go?

I wondered what the others would think if I disappeared again. Lei would probably be furious and insist on coming after me so she could chew me out. Rika would stress and think of every bad thing that could possibly happen to me. Yori would know where I am, but would still worry. Mizuki would be...very Mizuki about the situation, in other words, she would most likely flip the hell out. Katsumi would be sad, she would probably cry a little, but to be honest, her and I weren't as close as everyone else. Actually, now that I think about it, I wasn't really close to all of them. I was only there because of Yori.

What was wrong with me?

I never got close to anyone. My friends, even my sister, I never really relaxed around any of them, not that I didn't love them. I did, but I saw them as something distant. It was like while they were off having fun I would be there, but I would be two steps behind them, in the shadows. Hiding. That's what I always did. I hide. I clenched my fists. I was tired of hiding. I wanted to actually connect with another human being for once. I paused. I already had connected with someone.

I connected with Deidara. I closed my eyes and let myself remember the night after we meant with Akatsuki.

(**Flashback**)

_"You did good back there, hm," Deidara told me with a smirk. I scoffed._

_"Oh please, they don't scare me," I lied. He gave me a look._

_"I could almost feel you shaking while our Leader was talking about those pieces. It made you seem like an actual girl for once, yeah?" I glared at him._

_"I am a girl!" I snapped. He gave me a slightly pervy look._

_"Are you? Maybe I should check, hm?" I felt my face heat up and I punched him in the arm. It was more like punching a brick wall, but I didn't let myself flinch. It didn't seem to affect him at all. If anything his smile only grew wide._

_"Shut up!" I snapped. He chuckled. We were both silent for a moment. Tobi was gone, we weren't really sure where he had gone, but he would come back, he always did._

_"You haven't tried to escape anymore, yeah?" Deidara pointed out suddenly. I looked at him. He was just staring at me, waiting for a response I guess. I thought about it for a moment. He was right. I wasn't sure when I stopped, but I had._

_"I guess...it's because I don't really feel like a prisoner anymore. I feel like I'm just traveling with you guys," I told him. He looked at me, seeming to think about it. I looked up at the night sky. I knew we were about to go after Lei, but for some reason, I wasn't worried. I was perfectly fine just sitting out here with Deidara, even though I knew that he could kill me in a second if he wanted to._

_"That's because you are. Kakuzu made it clear to me that he remembers you and that you have no value to him. In fact, he wanted me to kill you, but I decided against it. You're too much fun to have around, yeah?" he told me. I looked over at him, surprised. He...he had been asked to kill me?_

_"Who...who did he think I was?" I asked me. He shrugged._

_"I don't know, un. He said you were something girl from back when he was still human instead of a walking voodoo doll. Someone named Tsuyo-sa." It was that name again. I wondered who this 'Tsuyo-sa' was. Did she really look like me?_

_"Well I'm glad you didn't, because then I would never get to see my sister again," I said._

_"Yori, yeah?" he said. I looked at him, surprised he had remembered her name._

_"Mhm. I miss her. I've been looking out for her since my parents left us all alone. I remember I had completely shut down after they left. I didn't talk to anyone, not even Yori. Then one day after school, I think we were both twelve at the time, we were walking home and Yori was grabbed by some punks. I tried to help her, but I was still so out of it. They were going to do...terrible things to her. I don't know what would have happened if I hadn't snapped out of it," I told him. I paused. I had never told anyone that story before, but it had just slipped out._

_"Sounds like it, yeah?" he said. I smiled, almost to myself. I was always afraid to tell anyone that story. The only one who knew it was Yori, but that was only because she was there when it had happened, and yet here I just spilled everything to Deidara and he didn't even react._

_For the first time, I had shown someone my past and I wasn't afraid._

(**Flashback Ends**)

I knew what I needed to do now. I was going to go back. I had to go back. He was the only person I had ever opened up to. I trusted him, and trust meant taking risks.

Without another thought I started running, just like I did back when I first encountered the Akatsuki, and just like that time, whatever made me run like the wind kicked end and I was flying. I wasn't sure how I knew where to go, but I did and before I knew it, I had stopped. Right in front of Derdara and Tobi. My legs were shaking and my breathing was a little uneven. I looked up to meet Deidara's visible eye and I smiled.

"I'm back," I said and then, feeling a little woozy I fell forward only to have them catch me.

"Yumi?"

"Yun-yun?" Hearing both of their voices...I wasn't sure what came over me, but in a very un-me-like fashion, I burst into tears.


	5. Chapter 5: Rika

**A/N: And now we are onto to Rika's chapter. I'm so glad I've finally started this story. I have so many ideas and plot points that I can't wait to post or you guys. One more chapter after this one and the first cycle will be finished! Please review and tell me what you think of the sequel so far! Remember what I said, 20 reviews ad I'll do a double chapter day.**

**Chapter 5: MIA and WTF?**

_Rika_

"Hey Rika, have you seen Yumi?" I turned my head toward Lei. I thought about it for a moment.

"No, I haven't seen her since we saw Mizuki at the front gate," I told her. She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, a sign that she was starting to get a headache.

"Great, I need to talk to you guys and I can't find her anywhere. Ugh, can you try and help me find her?" she asked me. I nodded and we started off.

As we were walking I glanced over at Lei from the corner of my eye. It seemed as though she hadn't changed a bit. She was a little darker from being out in the sun in Suna and she seemed to have a bit more muscle, but that was it, she was still Lei. I wondered if I looked any different to her. I smiled a little to myself, I felt different. I felt like I had figured out where I was meant to be.

"Rika." Lei and I turned around, catching sight of Sai following us. I smiled at him.

"Hey Sai, you want to help us find Yumi?" I asked him. He cocked his head to the side slightly.

"I just saw her," he told us. Lei sighed.

"Thank goodness. Where is she, we need to have a meeting," she asked.

"I saw her in the forest talking to Yori, then after Yori left I saw her run off," he told us. I wondered if they had gotten into a fight again. I hoped not, they were always in a bad mood when they weren't talking.

"Do you know where she ran off too?" Lei asked, focusing on the task at hand. Sai nodded.

"She left the village." Lei and I froze. Yumi was gone again? Lei shook herself and then glared at Sai, her red brown eyes blazing.

"What? Why? Where did she go?" Lei snapped.

"I know," a familiar voice said from the trees. We all looked and spotted Yori and Kiba coming towards us.

"Yori," I said. She smiled sadly.

"She went back to the Akatsuki." Lei and I gasped.

"What? Are you kidding? That's what I needed to tell you guys! The Akatsuki is coming after us!" Lei snapped. I looked at her, my eyes wide. The Akatsuki? What was going on? I looked at Lei, who was looking frantic and strung out. Why didn't she tell me this sooner. She looked over at me, her eyes apologetic. I had to admit, I felt slightly betrayed, but I knew that Lei had to have her reasons...right?

"I know," Yori's quiet voice said. I looked at her and sucked in a sharp intake of air. Yori...our innocent little Yori had changed. The wind was blowing her white blonde hair off of her shoulders, making it flare around her face. Her soft pink eyes were almost glowing and for once they had a hardened glint in them, making her look much older than sixteen. When had she grown so old?

"Yori," I heard Lei whisper next to me. I could tell that she too noticed the change in Yori, ut then she shook her head.

"We still need to have a meeting. Go get Katsumi. We'll meet in the hospital where Mizuki is," she told us. I glanced between Sai and Kiba.

"Hey Lei, do you think they could come too? What we talk about could very well effect them too," I reminded her. She seemed to think about it for a second and then she nodded. I smiled at Sai. To be honest I was glad he was going to be there, I was a little unsure and afraid. If the Akatsuki was after us then that means that there was something wrong with us...right?

"Aren't you coming?" Lei asked me suddenly. I shook my head and looked at her. Out of all of my friends, she was the one I was closest to, but I was starting to feel like she was drifting away from me.

We walked straight to the hospital and walked in. It wasn't too hard to find Mizuki and Itachi once we were there. They were the only bed surrounded by Anbu. Lei and I walked over and moved past the Anbu. They peered down at us through their masks, but a gesture from Sai made them go back to watching Itachi. I shivered. Even when I had been watching the anime, the Anbu had freaked me out. I think it was the masks.

"Mizuki?" Lei said as we got closer. She looked up at us and smiled. A true Mizuki smiled.

"Lei, Rika! I missed you guys!" she said. Lei and I smiled.

"We missed you too, you know you're going to have to tell us everything that happened while you were gone," I said. Lei took her fist and softly punched Mizuki on the side of th head.

"Ow! What was that for!" Mizuki groaned glaring at Lei.

"That was for being stupid and running away! I wasted my time searching for you!" Lei snapped. Mizuki looked away, her demeanor suddenly changing.

"I'm sorry. I had to," she muttered. Lei sighed.

"I know," she said patting her on the head. She turned and smiled at us.

"Hey guys!" We all turned around to see Katsumi and Yori coming towards us, the Hokage behind them. Katsumi happily skipped over to us.

"Kitty!" Mizuki cried throwing her arms around out silver haired friend.

"I told you! Don't call me kitty!" Katsumi whined. Mizuki only giggled. I smiled to myself. I missed this.

"I'm glad I have you all here together," Tsunade said. We all looked at her.

"Why?" Lei asked. Tsunade sighed and gestured to the Anbu. They all nodded and dispersed and Tsunade roughly pulled the curtain around the hospital bed shut. We all looked at her. Myself, Sai, Lei, Katsumi, Yori, Kiba, and Mizuki, we were all here.

"I need to tell you why you are here and to start, we need to go back to the time of the Sage of the Six Paths."


	6. Chapter 6: Lei

**A/N: Here we go, the big truth, the reason they are here in the Naruto world. I hope you all enjoy this chapter! I worked really hard on it and tried to match everything to the anime. Please review and tell me what you think of this chapter.**

**Chapter 6: The Truth**

_Lei_

I took a deep breath in. So Tsunade knew why we had been brought here, why the door only appeared to us. I felt myself twitching in anticipation, I needed to know the truth.

"It all started with the Sage of the Six Paths and the six women who helped him defeat the Ten-Tails," she started. A collective gasp went around the room.

"What do you mean?" I asked. She glared at me.

"Let me finish the story and you'll know!" she snapped. I held my hands up in a gesture of peace.

"Sorry," I muttered. She sighed and continued.

"These six girls are never talked about, mainly because history had forgotten them, but since you six arrived in this world something had been bothering me, so I started doing research. That's how I discovered the story of these six women. Their names were Hato, Enerugi, Joshiki, Yasashi-sa, Tsuyo-sa, and No. It is said that he had an intimate relationship with one of the women, but the stories don't say which." Tsunade paused.

"So what does this have to do with us?" Katsumi asked.

"I'm getting to that," Tsunade said. She took a deep breath and continued.

"It is said that the Sage couldn't defeat the demon with his own chakra, he needed more. Each of the women had large amounts of chakra and a special ability and during the battle he called upon them and they gave up all of their chakra so he could the the Ten-Tails jinchuriki. Without their help, he would have lost that battle. These girls became known as the Six Pieces of the Path, but as time went on, history forgot them, remembering only the Sage.

"The legend says that they have been reborn again and again throughout time, but in another world. It is said that once the rinnegan appeared in this world they would return. It is my belief that you six girls, are the Six Pieces of the Path," Tsunade finished looking over all f us. We were all silent, processing what she had told us, when finally Katsumi spoke up.

"Since I arrived in this world I've been blacking out and having these visions of the future, and they always come true. I've started calling them future flashes/ Is this one of the powers?" Katsumi asked, a worried look on her face.

"I'm not sure, but I believe so. I haven't been able to find out what their powers were. Have any more of you experienced odd abilities since you've been here?" Tsunade asked. Slowly, Rika raised her hand.

"I've been able to hear things that no one else can hear. If I focused, I would be able to tell you what someone all the way in the training grounds is doing," she told her. I looked at her, wondering why she didn't tell me sooner. I watched Sai move slightly closer to her, noticing her unease. I wondered what was going on there.

"Um, when i was trying to find Itachi I was able to close my eyes and sort of...I don't know, send my spirit out of my body and find him. It's kind of like what Karin can do," Mizuki stated shyly. Katsumi grimaced.

"Ew, you have that girl's power? I'm sorry," she said. Mizuki hit her with the back of her hand.

"Hey, it's not like I asked for it!" she snapped, pouting. Katsumi smiled. Tsunade seemed confused at the mention of Karin, but moved her attention to Yori.

"I already know your power. You obviously have incredible healing abilities, considering you saved Itachi's life when he was on the brink of dying, and your sister, Yumi, appears to be able to travel at amazing speeds," she said. Yori smiled a little and looked down at Itachi, who was still resting. I watched Mizuki slide her hand across the hospital bed and grab Itachi's in her own. Then Tsunade turned to me.

"What about you?" she asked. I frowned and looked away.

"I haven't experienced any odd powers since I've been here," I admitted. Tsunade's eyes narrowed.

"Are you sure?" she asked. I nodded. Tsunade sighed.

"Let me know if that changes," she said. She stood and prepared to leave, but then I remembered.

"Wait!" I said. She turned and looked at me.

"You all have to know, the Akatsuki is looking for us. They want the pieces and are now searched for us and the jinchuriki," I told them. Tsunade frowned.

"Then we do have a reason to worry," she muttered and then she was gone. All was quiet between my friends for moment, but then Rika spoke up.

"Lei.." she started. I ignored her and walked off. I felt like I didn't belong, I never belonged to this world. This wasn't my home.

"Lei?" I turned around and faced Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro. The two other siblings had apparently arrived earlier that day, after being left behind by Yumi when she had run here.

"Oh, hey guys," I greeted. Kankuro clenched his teeth.

"Hi? Are you kidding!? You guys just disappeared yesterday!" he snapped. I glared at him.

"Go away," I growled. I really didn't want to deal with his crap.

"No!" he snapped back. I felt my anger mounting and I looked at him again.

"Go away," I repeated in a deathly calm voice. He froze, and his eyes briefly flashed red.

"Yes," he said in an oddly robotic voice. My anger faded and I stared at him confused as he walked away. I looked at Temari and Gaara, both of them were staring at me oddly.

"I guess you figured it out," Rika said from behind me. I turned around and met her smiling face.

"What?" I asked.

"You figured out your power!" she said happily. I looked down at my hands and smiled, it was the first time I had smiled in a while. Maybe I did belong after all.


	7. Chapter 7: Mizuki

**A/N: It's Wednesday, you know what that means! Update Day! Yay! The next one will be Sunday. So I officially decided that Mizuki theme song is Ponponpon and if you've never heard that song do it now! Seriously, leave this page, go listen to it, and come back. You can just see MIzuki doing that dance can't you? Along with Katsumi of course. Teehee, Angel is going kill me when she sees that, she doesn't like the world knowing she's random. Anywho, onto the story!**

**Chapter 7: Taken *GASP!* ALREADY!**

_Mizuki_

"Lei figured out her power!" Katsumi squealed bouncing her way past the Anbu. I looked up at her and brightened instantly. Releasing Itachi hand I started bouncing along with her. One can't bounce alone you know, alone it's weird, but with other people it is completely natural *wink*.

'What is it?" I asked once we had finally stopped. Katsumi put a finger to her lips.

"I guess I'd call it Influence. She made Kankuro leave her alone. It was really weird, it was like her eyes flashed red and then his did and he just walked away," Katsumi explained.

"Why does everyone else get the cool powers and I just get tracking charkra!" I complained. Katsumi smiled nd pat me on the shoulder.

"It's ok, we still love you even though you have Karin's power." I glared at her and then looked down at Itachi. Katsumi must have noticed, because she changed the subject.

"So what exactly happened while you were gone?" she asked. I smiled at the memories.

"Well I annoyed the crap out of sharky," I told her. She sighed.

"Leave it to you to annoy someone who could kill you. You're lucky the rest of the Akatsuki didn't have to spend time with you! Deidara would have blown you up, Hidan would have sacrificed you, you probably would have stolen Kakuzu's money so he probably would have ripped you to shreds and Pein would have Almighty Pushed you off the nearest cliff!" I laughed.

"Did Kitty just try to be funny?" I asked. She blushed.

"Maybe...did it work?" she asked. I only laughed more. Once I had finally stopped I gave her **the** look.

"So how are you and Shika? Did purple elephants work?" I asked. She instantly went emo.

"I had forgotten about that," she said sadly. I smiled and slapped her on the back.

"It worked didn't it?" She gave me a strained smile.

"A little, we're friends now, but I don't think he likes me as much as I like him," she told me. I frowned and then looked her up and down.

"Nope, I'm almost positive he loves you but doesn't want to admit it," I told her. She gave me an 'are-you-on-crack?' look.

"If he loves me than I am obviously a completely normal person and Tsunade just told us that we aren't," she pointed out. I rolled my eyes, then I noticed Shika walking into the hospital and smiled evilly.

"Hey Kitty? Do you still remember how to do the Ponponpon dance?" I asked her. She smiled at the thought.

"Of course!" she said before commencing in the dance. I was so evil. Around the time she had her hands by her chin and her legs turned in, she noticed that Shika was there. Mainly because he cleared his throat. She froze and turned around.

"Um...Katsumi?" Katsumi drooped and I could tell that she wanted nothing more than to find the nearest corner and grow mushrooms.

"Fish sticks!" she muttered before facing him and pretending to be ok.

"Hi Shikamaru," she said laughing awkwardly. He just gave her and odd look before continuing.

"I thought we could train since you aren't doing anything," he said. She nodded and turned around to give me a look. I just smiled and shrugged.

"That wasn't very nice..." a weak voice muttered. I looked down to see that Itachi had finally woken up. He looked weak and was still pale, but his eyes were open and focused on me I fell to my knees next to the bed.

"You're awake!" I said. He just stared at me.

"What happened to Sasuke?" he asked me. I sighed, knowing he wasn't going to like the answer very much.

"He's still with his team. He wants to annihilate Konoha because of what they did to you," I told him. He looked sadden by that news. I reached out and took his hand again. He opened his mouth to say something, but then the door to the hospital burst open and there was Danzo. Now there was a true evil pickle. I scowled and stood up.

"I'm here to take Itachi Uchiha into custody," he said as the Anbu moved forward. The roughly pulled him from the hospital bed, making him wince.

"What the heck is your problem? His wounds still haven't closed!" I snapped. Danzo just glared at me with his one eye.

"You'd better watch it girl," he snarled. I ignored him, of course. I moved to try and help him, but the Anbu stopped me. I struggled to get away from them, but they were freaking strong! Yeah, not just strong, freaking strong, there's a difference you know.

"What are you going to do to him?" I asked as I helplessly watched him be taken away. Gah, he had only been awake for about a minute. This was way to freaking soon! Danzo looked at me.

"He has information on the Akatsuki. We are going to interrogate him and then treat him like any rogue ninja, we will kill him." I froze. The was no way I was going to let that happen. I had been through too much to see him die now. The Anbu released me and followed there master out, leaving me alone i the hospital. If they thought I was going to quietly let this happened without a fight, they were wrong.

I am Mizuki Ai, hear me roar!


	8. Chapter 8: Katsumi

**A/N: Yay new chapter! I want to give a quick shoutout to Weasle-chan who has been down lately You are AWESOME! Don't let life get you down! Also I'm only a couple reviews away from 20, you know what that means, double chapters! Also I would like to announce that I started an Akatsuki story that I pretty much came up with one random day when I was perusing Youtube. It's called Be Careful What You Wish For and you all should check it out if you have the time. Now, onto the story!**

**Chapter 8: I Am Currently Too Lazy to Think of a Title =3**

_Katsumi_

That darn Mizuki! I couldn't even look at Shikamaru as we walked to the training grounds. I couldn't believe he saw me do that stupid dance. Ugh! All I wanted to do was go back to the house and stew in my favorite corner. I tried to glance at him out of the corner of my eye, but I ended up staring at him full force. He looked like he was deep in thought about something. I cocked my head to the side, wondering what was going through his mind.

"You know it's rude to stare," a voice from behind me said. I felt myself jump and I even let out a little yelp. Some ninja in training I was. Shikamaru and I turned and faced one of his team members. Ino.

"Hi Ino," I said smiling. She smiled back, but shifted her attention to Shikamaru. I felt myself bristle a little bit at being brushed off, but instead I just took it meekly. If Yumi were here she probably would have bit her head off, but Yumi had left...again.

"Do you want to come with Choji and I to the barbecue to have lunch and talk about Asuma sensei?" she asked him. I sighed. I should have known that this would happen. I guessed that I would just be training on my own today. Figuring they wouldn't really notice, I started to walk away, heading to the training grounds, but then Shikamaru stopped me.

"Sorry, I already told Katsumi that I would help her train today," he told Ino. I stopped moving and turned around. Ino looked a little surprised and offended. Shikamaru just looked bored.

"Ar-are you sure?" Ino stuttered. You could even hear the surprise in her voice. I had to admit, I was kind of shocked too.

"Yeah. I'll see you guys later," he said walking over to me. I smiled a little to myself as we walked. I still avoided looking at him though, I didn't want to see if he regretted his decision or not.

"Hey Shikamaru?" I said breaking the silence. I wasn't sure why I was going to ask, but I think I was just overly curious as usual.

"Hm?" he asked.

"Why didn't you go with Ino?" I asked. I held my breath, a little afraid to hear his answer.

"Like I told her, I already told you that we were going to train today, so that's what I'm going to do," he told me. I sighed. I should've known. Oh well, I guess on the bright side I could get stronger today.

"So what are we going to do today?" I asked once we had reached the training grounds.

"Well, your visions put you at a disadvantage. If you're fighting someone and suddenly blackout that could be it for you, so I thought I'd start teaching you some long range jutsus, so that way if you can keep your distance you won't be so close to the enemy if you blackout," he told me. I nodded, made sense.

"Alright, so how do I start?" I asked.

I'm not sure how long we stayed out in the training field, but by the time we had finally finished the sun was going down. He had a taught me a whole bunch of new moves that I was going to have to practice. He had also finally helped me figure out with weapon I was best at. It turns out that I'm apparently really good at senbon, which really helped considering I learned a lot of new jutsus involving them.

"You're learning fast, here soon you might even be at chunin level," Shikamaru told me. I smiled.

"I don't know about that," I said shyly.

"Sai and Sakura told me that your other two friends learn fast too. I wonder if it's because you're from a different world." I shook my head.

"No, I think it might be because we are the reincarnation of some of the first ninjas. That could be why we have been picking things up so fast," I explained.

"What do you mean?" he asked, making me remember that he hadn't been there when Tsunade explained.

"Well..." I told him everything she had told us earlier, I figured that no one had said it was a secret so I was fine telling him. I watched as his eyes grew slightly wide. I could tell this news shocked him a little.

"So what you're saying is, you and your friends have been around since the time of the Sage of the Six Paths?" he asked. I nodded.

"Yep, but since thenwe were only reborn into our world. We didn't come here until the rinnegan was awoken," I told him.

"Who here would posses the rinnegan?" Shikamaru asked. I wondered for a moment if I should tell him about Pein. We had already messed things up a little by saving Itachi *cough cough Mizuki!* and we didn't really want to screw things up anymore.

"I don't know, we haven't met him yet," I told him. He nodded and then looked up at the sky.

"Ugh, this is so troublesome," I heard him mutter, making me smile. He looked over at me and sighed, holding out his hand.

"Do you want me to walk you home?" he asked. I took his hand, still smiling and nodded.

We walked in silence, but it was a comfortable silence. I remembered when he had tried to awkwardly comfort me while I was crying earlier. The fact that he had even tried meant so much to me. It was getting harder and harder for me to accept that he didn't really care for me the way I cared for him. Every sweet gesture, every conversation, it was all making it difficult to face facts and live with it. I kept holding on to my hope, even though it was never going to happen.

"Katsumi!" I looked up from my feet to see that we had finally reached the house and Rika was standing outside waiting fo me. I smiled at her, but then I frowned, feeling Shikamaru's hand release mine. I looked up at him.

"Will I see you tomorrow?" I asked. He sighed and gave me a small smile.

"I guess," he muttered. I smiled and quickly grabbed him in a hug that he was definitely not prepared for.

"I'll see you then," I said releasing him and heading over to Rika.

"What was that about?" she asked me, a sly smile on her face. In a good mood, I pat her on the head.

"You'll understand when your older," I said, smiling. She fumed.

"I'm older than you!" she reminded me. I just laughed. Nothing could bring my mood down.

"Guys! I need your help!" Mizuki said coming through the door. Rika and I looked over at her. She looked out of breath and really frazzled. In other words, it looked as though she had just come down rom a sugar high.

'What is it?" Rika asked, suddenly serious.

"It's Danzo, he took Itachi and I think he's going to kill him!" Well...that definetly killed my mood. Oh well, I kept it as long as I could.

"We need to see the Hokage, now," Rika said, and then we set off to help Mizuki save Itachi...again.


	9. Chapter 9: Yori

**A/N: Yori's chapter already. Alright, so after this cycle will be Itachi's special chapter. I hope everyone's excited for that, I know I am. This chapter may be a little cheesy, but it's relevent to the story. I hope everyone enjoys!**

**Chapter 9: Remember Me**

_Yori_

"You ok?" Kiba asked me. I had been pretty silent after finding out everything about our past lives. I had always suspected that we had been brought here for a reason, but I had no idea that it would be this...well, big. Poor Yumi still had no idea and a part of me wanted to go after her, but I couldn't not yet. I didn't know if Itachi would need me again and after hearing about Katsumi's vision I didn't want to risk not being here.

"I'm fine, I've just been thinking a lot," I told him. He nodded and took my hand. Akamaru, who had been walking along beside us, whined, making Kiba look down at him.

"What is it boy?" he asked. The dog looked between myself and Kiba and then whined again. Kiba looked up and me and gave me a lopsided grin.

"Even he can tell that something's up," he told me. I smiled and knelt down next to Akamaru.

"Don't worry, I'm fine," I told the dog, who, in turn, licked my face. I stood back up and faced Kiba. He reached out with a clawed hand and touched my face.

"Yori, I know that something is bothering you," he said. I sighed. I guess it was getting harder and harder to hide the fact that everything Tsunade had told us was troubling me. Also, getting close to Kiba had made it harder for me to hide my emotions from him. I could no longer hide behind my innocent facade around him. He knew the real me.

"I guess I feel like there's something about our pasts that Tsunade didn't tell us, something important, but I can't tell if I'm just being suspicious or if there really is more to the story about us," I told him. He seemed to think about it.

"Do you want me to help you find the truth?" he asked me. I looked up and him and smiled.

"I would love that," I told him leaning closer. I was about to kiss him when something strange happened, it was like how Katsumi described her visions. Everything went black and I felt my body fall to the ground.

"Yori?" I heard Kiba say. I tried to tell him that I was alright, but I couldn't move my body, then everything changed. I was no longer able to hear Kiba or feel the ground under me. It was like I was floating, but then I did hear something, a voice. Were they calling...me?

"Yasashi-sa! Come on Sashi-chan, get up!" My eyes snapped open and I was faced with...Mizuki? But she didn't look like Mizuki. She was taller and her hair, instead of being short and curly was long and straight. It was still the same color and her eyes were the same, but she was so much more...how could I say this...filled out.

"Mizuki?" I groaned, sitting up. She looked confused.

"Who's Mizuki? Um, Yashashi-sa did you hit your head before you fell asleep? I'm Enerugi, duh," she said placing her hands on her hips. I sat up and looked around the room. Everything looked completely different. It looked like I was in feudal Japan. I looked over Enerugi. She was wearing...well to describe it accurately I would have to say she was dressed like Kikiyo from Inuyasha. I looked down, only to see that I was wearing the same thing. Were we...preistesses?

"Rugi-chan, Sashi-chan, are you guys awake yet!" another voice called from outside. Enerugi turned and then nudged me with her foot.

"We are, but your sister won't get her butt out of bed!" she called, smiling at me. I sighed. Jeez, this woman was just like Mizuki. Another girl peeked around the corner and I felt all of the air leave my body. It was Yumi!

Her long blue tinted black hair was tied into a ponytail and was lon enough to reach her waste. Her eyes were still the same, letting me know that it was definitely Yumi. I noticed then that she too had on the same uniform that Enerugi and I were wearing. Like the Mizuki-look-alike, this Yumi looked a little older and more filled out, plus she was smiling, something that my sister didn't really do.

"Come on Sashi-kun, get up, or you'll make your Yoyo-kun sad," she said in a cutesy voice. Ok...that was definitely not my sister.

"Tsuyo-sa, what is with that nickname?" Enerugi asked rolling her emerald eyes. Wait a second, these names, I had heard them before. Tsuyo-sa, Yasashi-sa, Enerugi...they were the names of the original Six Pieces of the Path. Did that mean this was...a flashback? A lost memory? Then why was I aware of everything and able to respond?

"Psht, you know you love me," Tsuyo-sa said, sounding more like my sister.

"So where are the others?" I asked, playing along. Tsuyo-sa looked confused.

"Don't you remember? They went to visit the Sage. Hato and Joshiki all wanted to learn more about chakra and No wanted to try and seal the deal with him." she told me with a wink.

"Seal the deal?" I asked. Enerugi rolled her eyes.

"Are you kidding? She's been in love with him since we first met him," she told me. I nodded. Tsunade had mentioned that it was possible, but which one of us was No? Suddenly everything went dark again.

"Sashi-kun?" I heard Enerugi's voice say. Once again I couldn't reply, I couldn't even move. Then I opened my eyes again, my pink rose ones meeting a pair of animatistic ones. Kiba.

"Yori? What happened, are you alright?" he asked me in a panicked voice. I nodded and leaned against him.

"I'm fine. I just remembered," I told him. He looked at me, confused.

"Remembered what?" he asked.

"My past life," I told him. Then I remembered about No.

"Wait! Tsunade was right! One of us did have a relationship with the Sage! It has to be either Katsumi, Lei, or Rika!" I told him. He looked surprised.

"What does that mean?" he asked me.

"It means that there's more to this story than what we know. Come on, we need to see what we can find out," I told him, standing up. He shrugged and followed. I knew there was more than what we had been told and my flashback had proved it and I was determined to find out the truth. What really happened to us all those years ago?

**A/N: So out of curiosity I have to know, who do you think No is? Rika, Lei, or Katsumi? Review and tell me who you think it could be.**


	10. Chapter 10: Yumi

**A/N: Alright, so here we are at chapter ten, good stuff, right? So funny story before starting the chapter. I was sitting here typing this when my cat, who I swear wakes up every day and thinks 'what am I going to do to bother Lexi today', jumped on my lap and plooped her little but right on my keyboard and gave me a look that said 'what are you going to do about it?' Me being me I said said, 'no...' and waiting for literally an hour and I couldn't type at all! Finally she got bored and left and I was able to finish my chapters. Yay! Well, enough rambling, onto Yumi's chapter. P.S I decided to try and make this a little funny to break some of the tension.**

**Chapter 10: Just a Little Fun**

_Yumi_

"I still can't believe you started crying, yeah," Deidara smirked. I glared at him, putting as much malice as I could into my gaze. Ever since the day before, Deidara had been teasing me about crying. I may have been tough, but I was still a girl and girls cry! Tobi, of course, was a little more sympathetic. He had actually fallen to his knees and cried along with me. I'd heard him say something about him missing his 'Yun-yun'.

Of course I stopped crying long enough to hit him over the head for, one, referring to me as 'his', and two, for calling me 'Yun-yun'. Diedara of course was a little less sympathetic, but he wasn't mean and he did offer to help me up, which, for him, was a big deal. Though now that I was back to normal he had gone back to being his normal cocky jerk self.

"Shut up!" I snarled. He just chuckled. Tobi on the other hand, came up behind me and gave me a hug.

"Aw Yun-yun, don't be ashamed! Tobi thinks you're cute when you cry!" I scowled. If there was one thing I hated, it was being refered to as cute. I was not girly, even though I was a girl. Period, end of story.

"That goes for you too," I said to him, while Deidara just continued to smirk at me. Stupid tear ducts and emotions, I was never going to live this down.

"So where are we going again senpai?" Tobi asked, directing his attention to Deidara. He glared at the man-child.

"For the last time, since that piece got away, thanks to someone we know," que a one eyed glare at me, "we've been told to find the chomei jinchuriki. Form what Leader told us, she should be in a village somewhere in this area," he told me. I felt relieved, I was glad that he wasn't still going after Lei, and that he wasn't mad enough to make me into a bomb after saving her, though he did want to know why and was pretty pissed when I wouldn't tell him.

"Ah! Tobi remembers now!" Tobi said jumping for joy. I tried to remember the name of the jinchuriki of chomei. I knew what she had looked like. Short minty green hair, orange eyes, kind of freaky, like mine. Fu! That was her name!

"Yun-yun is kind of spacey, isn't she?" Tobi asked, looking at me through his mask. I glared at him.

"He's right, yeah. If it wasn't for us, you probably would have been kidnapped by not. Not to mention you have no training to defend yourself, hm," Deidara said. I slapped him in the back of the head.

"Well maybe if you guys trained me that wouldn't be a problem," I said placing my hands on my hips. Deidara just smirked.

"So you want us to train you, yeah?" he asked. I shrugged. If possible, he smirk got even more devilish.

"Senpai, Yun-yun! Look, it's a village! Let's go!" Tobi said shooting off towards the village, leaving Deidara and I staring after him.

"He never runs out of energy, does he?" I asked absently. Deidara was glaring after him.

"He makes me tired just looking at him, hm," Deidara said moving to follow after him. I sighed and started walking with him. The village was still pretty far off, meaning we had a long walk a head of us. The sun was already starting to set and we probably wouldn't make it until late night...unless.

"I have an idea," I said. Deidara looked at me and rolled his one visible eye.

"This should be good, hm," he said I slapped his arm.

"I'm wondering if maybe if I'm holding onto someone I can run with them," I said. He raised an eyebrow.

"You mean using that weird speed thing you did before, yeah?" he asked. I nodded. He shrugged.

"Go ahead. Tobi's only a little further a head, hm," he said nodding in the direction of the idiot. I frowned.

"I was talking about trying it with you," I said. He just looked at me.

"Are you kidding? There is no way I'm letting you do that" he said, I stared at him for a moment.

"You know, you don't have a speech impediment all the time?" I said. He just star at me.

"Come on, it won't kill you," I said, holding my hand out. He looked at me, and then looked at me hand, before reluctantly taking it. Focusing myself, I prepared to run and then, without warning Deidara, I shot off.

It seemed like it was getting easier and easier to use my super speed, something that I liked. It meant that no matter what, I was able to get away. No one could run as fast as me. I would always be free, something I had always wanted to be. Needless to say, I didn't want to be caged and being able to run super fast? Yeah, that was a great way to avoid that. I finally stopped running when I had reached the front of the village. I smiled.

"We made it!" I said. I turned to look at Deidara. Let's just say, it didn't look like touching someone meant they could run as fast as me too. He glared at me, his face covered in dirt and I think there was some grass in his hair. Unable to help myself I cracked up.

"You knew that would happen, didn't you, un," he growled. I shook my head, unable to speak. He just continued to glare and stood, brushing the dirt and grass off of himself. I just continued to laugh. Seriously, seeing him like that was just too funny. He looked back to see how far away Tobi was. Fortunatly he was just a peck in the distance meaning we had some quiet time before the idiot returned.

"Come on, let's go find a place to stay," Deidara growled, finally clean...well cleanish. I stopped laughing.

"Good plan, will Tobi be able to find us?" I asked him. He just shrugged.

"Does it matter?" he asked starting down the street.

"Hm. I guess not," I said following him. We walked in silence until we finally found a hotel, with a hot spring, I might add. I watched as Deidara cheked us in, more than a little peeved at the flirty glances the lady at the counter kept giving him. Seriously, if only she knew he was an S-ranked criminal, and with bad manners to boot.

Suddenly the door of the inn burst open, revealing a very out of breath Tobi.

"Don't worry senpai! Tobi is here!" the idiot declared. Deidara sighed.

"Oh the joy," I muttered. The three of us went upstairs to the room. I had to admit it was pretty nice except...oh no...oh hell no! I was so going to kill Deidara for this!

**A/N: Cliffhanger! XD Any guesses on what's in the room?**


	11. Chapter 11: Rika

**A/N: So I finally reached twenty review! You know what that means! Double the chapters so right after I post this chapter I will post Lei's! Yay! Also I've started yet another Naruto story, I've been on a real writing kick recently. It's called Just One Touch, and you should all check it out if you haven't already!**

**Chapter 11: Complicated**

_Rika_

"How in the heck did this happen?" I asked Mizuki as we ran towards to Hokage's office.

"Yeah, didn't they train you? Why didn't you try to fight them off?" Katsumi asked. Mizuki glared at her, her green eyes offended.

"Are you kidding? Danzo is freaking covered in sharingan and my only talent is to track him with my chakra, I was kinda at a disadvantage!" she reminded us.

"Oh yeah," Katsumi realized. I rolled my eyes. It seemed like since Mizuki had gotten back it had been one thing after another. First Itachi had almost died, then we found out that we were the reincarnation of six powerful women, now Itachi had been taken into custody. I couldn't wait to see what happens next.

"Rika!" I familiar voice called out. We all stopped and turned around to see Sai. He seemed very confused as he scanned through my friends. Mizuki, being Mizuki, squealed and ran over to him. This just made him look even more shocked.

"Holt mother, it's Sai! Can you show me that cool tattoo seal thing on your tongue?" she asked, forgetting what we had been just doing. I sighed and Sai looked over at me.

"How does she know about the seal?" he asked calmly.

"She's one of my friends," I told him. He nodded in understanding, remembering when I had told him about our other world. His face changed into his typical mask, that fake smile that I hated so much. I rolled my eyes.

"Hello, which one are you?" he asked. Mizuki smiled.

"I'm Mizuki!" she told him brightly. I felt Katsumi tap my shoulder as she leaned closer.

"Are you sure letting her talk to him? Remember what she did to me?" she asked.

"I don't really think anything she could do would bother Sai, he'd probably just think that's it's normal. In fact I'm more worried about her talking to him," I told her. Her blue eyes looked confused.

"Why?" she asked. I smiled to myself.

"Wait for it." A second later we heard Sai snap his fingers.

"I've got it! Ginger!" he said. Mizuki froze. Slowly, she turned around and looked and Katsumi and I. The look in her eyes would kill. Mizuki hated being called a ginger. The last time a kid in school called her a ginger she went Yumi on them and Mizuki going Yumi...*shudders* it was pretty terrifying.

And now it was Sai's turn. This was going to be good.

"Oh no, you shouldn't have called her that," Katsumi said. Sai cocked his head to the side, confused.

"I am not a ginger, I'm a RED-HEAD!" Mizuki snapped pouncing. Being as nimble as she was, she landed right on his shoulders where she began pulling on his hair. He tried to get her off without hurting her, but she wouldn't be shaken that easily. I felt my smile grow wider.

"Now this is, entertainment," I said to myself. Katsumi rolled her eyes at me.

"Mizuki! Get off, we have to go save Itachi!" Katsumi said taking pity on the ROOT member. Mizuki stopped and then shot off like a rocket.

"That girl has a one track mind," I muttered. Katsumi smiled at me and then followed after her. I looked back at Sai who was trying to smooth down his hair in a stunned fashion. I smiled at him and walked over to give him a hand...I couldn't reach his head...shut up. Sai kneeled down, so I could help, again, shut up. His dark eyes watched me as I used my fingers to brush his dark hair back into place. I had to admit it was really soft...gah! Stupid brain, focus!

"I'm guessing that was a bad nickname," Sai said. I smiled at him.

"It was probably the worst one you could think of, she hates being called a ginger," I told him. He sighed and stood back up.

"I came out here to find you. I'm going on a mission and we may need your talent," he told me. For a moment I was confused, unsure of what 'talent', but then I remembered, my super hearing. Of course. I guess that would be a good reason to want me to come along...

"Um...sure, of course. I'd be happy to help, I just need to help my friend frist." He seemed confused.

"With what?" he asked.

"Itachi was taken by Danzo, we are going to try and talk to Tsunade and see if we can," I told him. He shook his head.

"That won't work. Even if she listens it won't do any good," he told me. I frowned.

"Well we're going to try anyway," I told him firmly.

"Then I'll help you," he said. I shook my head.

"You don't have to," I told him.

"I want to." Unsure of what else to say I just shrugged and ran off after my friends. I heard Sai follow behind me. I could tell he wasn't running at full speed so he wouldn't get a head of me. I wasn't sure if that should make me angry or pleased. Oh well it didn't matter, we just had to get to the Hokage's office as soon as we could.

When we finally reached the doors, I opened them without any hesitation to see Mizuki and Katsumi standing before Tsunade. Both of their faces were pleading, letting me know that things weren't going very well. Tsunade's eyes moved over to me and she frowned. I stepped forward so I could speak, but Sai's arm stopped me. I glared at him, but he was looking at Tsunade.

"We are here to request Itachi Uchiha's freedom," he said. Tsunade sighed.

"I figured as much, but there's really nothing I can do. Danzo won't let me interfere," she growled.

"There has to be something!" Mizuki protested. Tsunade seemed to think for a second, but then she sighed.

"There is one thing we can do, but...he wouldn't be allowed to stay in the village," she said. We all frowned. We knew what this meant. Mizuki was going to go with him. Suddenly the doors opened again, revealing Lei.

"Lady Hokage, I have a request," she said. She then seemed to notice that we were all there and furrowed her brow. I knew I would have to give her the rundown later. Tsunade looked over all of us and then slammed her hands on her desk.

"We will discuss this later. Right now I will speak with Lei," she said. We all took that as our que to leave and exited the room. Once outside Mizuki sighed and sat down, leaning her back against the wall.

"Great, now what am I going to do?" she asked. As Katsumi comforted her, Sai pulled me aside.

"We're going to need to leave soon for the mission," he told me. I nodded.

"Alright, just let me speak to Lei first," I told him. I knew I would have to tell her what we were doing in there and I was going to have to tell her that I was leaving. Things were definitely getting complicated...


	12. Chapter 12: Lei

**A/N: So after this chapter will be Itachi's! How exciting will that be? I know I'm so pumped that I might not even post the chapter early. ;) Anyway, onto Lei's chapter!**

**Chapter 12: Going Away**

_Lei_

"I'm going back to Suna." I turned around, meeting Gaara's pale blue gaze. Ever since I had discovered my ability, that I had decided to call, influence, I had been practicing in the forest on different animals, seeing how far I could take it and how long it lasted. It turns out that it lasted until the person had fulfilled my request, meaning it could last forever if I wanted it to.

"What do you mean?" I asked him, walking over.

"I am their Kazekage, I need to go back," he told me. I sighed. I wasn't sure why I had thought that he would stay and I would be able to stay with him, Temari, and Kankuro along with my friends. I guessed that I was just letting myself hope for once, something I normally didn't allow for, and this was why. Disappointment stung.

"Then...I won't be able to see you guys anymore," I said quietly. For a moment I felt tempted to use my powers to get him to stay, but that would be wrong, besides, he was right, his people did need him. Suddenly Temari came through the trees, followed by Kankuro. I should have known that the sand siblings were close. They never strayed to far from their brother.

"Actually, we came to see you to ask you something," she said smiling. I raised an eyebrow in confusion and turned my attention back to Gaara.

"What did you want to ask?" I questioned him. I had figured out a while ago that Gaara sometimes spoke through his siblings. Especially to me. I figured that this was just one of those times. Temari and Kankuro both looked at there brother, who just stared at me with the same blank expression. I tilted my head towards him, waiting for him to say something. Finally he sighed and met my brownish red eyes.

"We want you to come back to Suna with us," he said.

"That's not a question," I stated, being the smartass that I typically am. Temari sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Fine, will you go back to Suna with us?" she asked in an exasperated tone. I thought about it for a moment. To be honest, there's nothing more I wanted to do than go back with them, but I had to help take care of my friends. They needed me. But still...

"Let me think about it," I told them. The sand siblings nodded and watched as I walked off. I needed to talk to Rika about it before I decided anything. She was the only person I trusted to help me make the right decisions. I just had to find her.

I decided to start at the house, figuring that would be the most sensible place she would be, but when I opened the door all I saw was Yori and Kiba, bent over some books at the table. My curiosity instantly piqued so I walked over to see what they were doing. Neither of them seemed o notice me, both were too focused on what they were reading. They finally noticed that I was there when I had reached the table and placed my hands over the words on the page.

"What are you guys doing?" I asked them. Yori smiled innocently, reminding me of the Yori she used to be.

"We're just doing some research," she answered. I rolled my eyes.

"I can see that, but what are you researching?" I asked her. I heard Kiba growl.

"It's none of your business," he told me. I watched as Yori placed her hand on his. He calmed down almost instantly, but there was still some hostility in his gaze when he looked me in the eye. I instead focused my attention on Yori. all the girls in our group had always come to me with everything, it was part of my job as the 'leader' and even though we were in a different world, I still saw it as my job. Meaning I didn't expect what Yori was about to say.

"Sorry, but we can't really tell you. This is just something I have to do," she told me with a sad smile. I frowned, that was not the answer I was looking for. I opened my mouth to say more, but then closed it. Why did I care what she was researching? I needed to find Rika.

"Well, then I'll just leave you two alone," I said, trying not to put any vemon in my words. Yori gave me another sad smile and then went back to reading.

I watched the two of them for a moment and then left the house. I couldn't believe that Yori didn't tell me what was going on, it was just like with Yumi. She didn't tell me everything about why the girl went back to the Akatsuki when she should have. Especially because it could be potentially dangerous, but she didn't. I hoped that Rika would be able to shed some light on this whole thing.

After a few more minutes of walking I finally spotted her. She was helping Sai fix his hair. He had even kneeled down onto one knee to let her. I know I should have been happy for my friend, but I was just angry. I told her to make sure that everyone didn't form connections while I was gone, but I come back and everyone is off with someone else, including Rika! It really hurt and it made me feel like she didn't even miss me.

I watched as they ran off and began to follow. I still wanted to talk to Rika about everything, because even though she was breaking my rules, she was still my best friend. I followed them all the way to the Hokage's office where they went in and shut the door behind them. I pressed my ear against the door to see what they were talking about. Form what I could hear it was about...saving Itachi? Why didn't anyone tell me that he needed help!

Because no one needed me. Not anymore.

Without a second thought I flung the Hokage's door open. I had made my choice.

"Lady Tsunade, I need to speak with you," I said. She sent everyone in the room out. Rika gave me a strange look before leaving the room.

"What do you want Lei?" she asked me.

"I would like permission to go back to Suna with the Kazekage," I requested. Tsunade's eyes widened.

"Are you sure?" she asked. I nodded. I obviously wasn't needed here, so I might as well go. She sighed.

"Well I guess, but you have to be the one to tell your friends," she told me. I nodded, I had already planned to tell them, not that any of them would care.

"Thank you Lady Tsunade," I said. She just waved me out of the room.

I opened the door and left the room only to see that Rika was waiting for me, with Sai next to her. I felt a strange dark feeling bubble up when I looked at the two of them. How dare she just betray me like that, because that was what this was, a betrayal. I made a gesture for her to follow me...alone. She nodded and whispered something to Sai before following after me. Once I had found a little empty hallway, I turned to her.

"I'm going back to Suna," I told her bluntly. I expect sadness, an apology, trying to get me to stay, something. What I didn't expect was what she actually said.

"That's great! I'm going on a mission with Sai too, I've been trying to find you to tell you all day," she said smiling. I felt my heart drop. I really wasn't needed around here anymore. I guess it was good that I was leaving.

"Have fun," was all I said before leaving her in that hallway. I needed to find Gaara now, so we could leave. I didn't even want to say goodbye to everyone else. They wouldn't miss me anyway.


	13. Chapter 13: Itachi

**A/N: I am so excited for this chapter! Itachi is finally going to get featured and hopefully Mizuki will be able to save him...again. I really hope I did ok writing for him, because in my opinion, he is a very difficult character to write for. He's so quiet and intense and I can never tell what he's thinking. So, please review and tell me how I did.**

**Chapter 13: Not Going to Give In**

_Itachi_

As Ibiki's fist crashed into my face once more, I remained silent. When I had woken up, I had thought I had died. I had felt better than I had in years and I could see Mizuki's face so clearly. Her voice was the first thing I had heard before I'd opened my eyes. I would have thought she was an angel if it wasn't for the fact that she was embarrassing her friend.

"Tell us, why is the Akatsuki after the jinchuriki?" Ibiki snarled. His face was close enough to mine that I could smell his breath and see his scars. I was in a chakra restraining device, and I was chained down. I was at the mercy of the Leaf, the country that I had eliminated my own family for. I thought about what Mizuki had told me before I was taken away.

Sasuke was still planning on destroying this village, something I had never intended on.

Ibiki gripped one of my fingers and bent it back at an odd angle. Pain shot up my arm, but I had been trained since I was young to not show that I was in pain. Ibiki snarled in disappointment. I knew he wanted to make me scream. I assumed he decided to get more 'tools of his trade', because he left the room, slamming the door behind him. He believed that I had heartless slaughtered my own family for no reason other than the pursuit of power, but he was wrong.

It was my mission, but I wouldn't kill my little brother. I still remember holding him when our parents were gone on missions. All I had wanted was to take care of him, and to help him to grow stronger. I loved my village, but I loved him more. I remembered how our father would treat him, comparing him to me, but when I looked at him I saw that he had the potential to be stronger and I wanted to help him.

I wanted him to be the one to kill me and even when I was sick and should have been dead, I stayed alive, just to make him stronger. So how was I still alive? It had to have been Mizuki, there was no other way.

The girl had struck me as something...different, from the first time we happened upon her. A part of it was her appearance, never before had I seen hair and eyes like her's. It suited her personality though, very upbeat and kind of bouncy. She was a strange girl, with a different personality. It reminded me of sunshine, bright and energetic.

It wasn't just those things that made me take her with us and train her. I had sensed something about her, something ancient and powerful. Then there was when she found Kisame and I. There was no way she could have tracked us as easily as she did. I had felt like she was something that was apart of this world and yet, from somewhere completely different.

Then our leader had told us about the pieces.

I knew the moment he explained what they were that Mizuki was one of them. I could tell that her friend, the one that had been travelling with Deidara and Tobi, was one as well. Both of them had different chakra and Madara had told me of her friend's speed when she had taken the piece they were searching for. I didn't tell Madara about Mizuki though, she had become...speacial to me. She was humorous and fearless, taunting Kisame when he could have easily crushed her.

I heard the door open, but I didn't look. I didn't want to give Ibiki the satisfaction. I heard the footsteps draw closer and I braced myself for the pain, but I didn't feel it. I instead felt a pair of soft hands tugging on the chains. I looked up and met a strange pair of rose petal pink eyes. It was a girl. She strangely reminded me of the friend of Mizuki's. I felt another pair of hands tugging on more of the chains and when I shifted my eyes I met a pair of electric blue ones. Then hands touched my face.

"Jeez, Ibiki really did a number on you, huh? You think you can heal him again Yori?" It was Mizuki. Once again, she was saving me when I would have been better off dead. She looked the same, but I could see her bright green eyes misting over. She had been worried. The girl with the soft pink eyes looked at her.

"Of course, you guys need to get out of here as soon as possible and what sort of medic would I be if I just let him go in this state," she said with a smile. So her name was Yori and she was a medic. She seemed the same as Mizuki and her friend, meaning that she was a piece. Was she the one who healed me? She had to be, no other medic could have done it.

"Um, can you two help me with this chain, I think I got my hand stuck," the blue eyed girl said. She was the same girl that I had seen with Mizuki when I had first woken up. She had to have been another piece. Meaning I had found four of the six pieces, but did I really want to tell Madara? No, I hated killing, though I knew that I had to, and I didn't want to hurt the girls that were helping me.

"Oh Kitty, leave it to you to get stuck," Mizuki said smiling at the girl...Kitty?

"Don't call me Kitty!" she whisper-yelled.

"There, I got your hands out, Katsumi," Yori said, putting emphasis on her name. I felt the chains loosen until I could stand. A moment after I stood I felt Mizuki slam into me, wrapping her arms around my middle.

I wasn't really sure how to react and, after glancing at her friends, I could tell they didn't know how I would react either, they actually looked kind of frightened that I would hurt her. I slowly, mainly because I was still pretty beaten from Ibiki, lifted my hand and placed it on her head. She looked up at me, her green eyes shimmering with her unshed tears and I managed to give her a small smile.

"Holy frijolies, Itachi Uchiha just smiled!" I heard Katsumi whisper to Yori. The door to the room began to open, allowing a third girl into the room. Her eyes were closed tightly in concentration and she was small with long dark hair. None of the other girls seemed surprised by her entrance, letting me know that she was a friend. Her eyes popped open, revealing a vibrant violet color.

"You guys better hurry, Ibiki is on his way back, and his has a freaking barbed wire whip!" the girl snapped. So she had the ability to sense where people were, meaning, she was another piece. Her attention moved to me and she smiled.

"Uh, hi. I'm Rika Furude, Mizuki's friend," she introduced. I inclined my head towards her as Yori moved over to me and began to heal the wounds Ibiki had inflicted.

"Thanks Rika, don't you have to go meet Sai?" Katsumi asked her. Rika groaned and closed her eyes again.

"Yes! Crap, I'm going to be late and Sai's already there waiting for me!" she said. She waved to her friends and then shot out the door. That made five pieces total that I had met.

"I'm finished," Yori said, moving away from me.

"Great, now let's go!" Mizuki said, pulling on my hand.

"Go where?" I asked her. She smiled at me.

"We have to leave the village," she told me. I looked at her friends.

"What about your friends?" I asked her. They both smiled at me.

"It's ok, she'd probably just chase you down again if you leave without her," Katsumi told me. I looked back at Mizuki who just shrugged.

"She's right, Mizuki is very attached to you," Yori told me. I guess that was alright considering I was becoming very attached to her. I looked at her pleading eyes and sighed. I gave her a slight nod and a smile graced her fair face. I looked at her friends.

"Thank you for you help," I told them. Katsumi beamed and Yori gave me a soft smile. I then looked back at Mizuki and made a realization, I still hadn't told her that I loved her.

**A/N: Not even kidding I spent four hours trying to write this chapter and I'm still not completely happy with it. Itachi is just so hard to write! Ugh! Please review and tell me what you think, even if you think it sucks.**


	14. Chapter 14: Mizuki

**A/N: And Mizuki's chapter! I love this character so much, almost as much as I love the girl I based her off of. Lol. Her chapters are getting more and more fun to write, as are Lei's, Yumi's, and Katsumi's. I'm not sure why, but they just have. I'm going to be so sad when I finish this story. I've actually been considering writing some one-shots with these characters and their pairings. If you would be interested in reading those, please review and tell me.**

**Chapter 14: Leaving**

_Mizuki_

"Ok, I'm getting really tired of running," I said stopping to catch my breath. Itachi paused and looked back at me, his dark eyes showing amusement. He had really changed since I had first met him. I could already tell he was becoming more open with me, something that was probably going to hit me in another day or so and when it did...well I was going to flip out.

"Are you alright?" he asked me. I nodded. We had been running since we had left the village an hour ago. We were a pretty safe distance away, but we still didn't know if anyone was after us. Itachi still hadn't fully recovered, even with Yori healing him, so he wanted to avoid fighting anyone. Needless to say, I would have been useless in a fight, I wasn't even at a genin level yet.

He gave me a slight nod, letting me know that it was safe for me to relax for a moment. I groaned and let myself fall back onto the soft grass. I stared up at the sky, going over everything in my mind. I had managed to save Itachi again, thank goodness, but...now what? Where were we going to go? I sighed and pushed myself back up a little, just so I could look at Itachi.

His eyes were locked on the direction of the village. I wondered what he was thinking about. Slowly I crawled towards him, trying my best to sneak up on him, though I know it was futile. Once I was close enough I slowly stood up and...

"BOO!" I said popping up in front of his face. His dark eyes moved from the direction of the village to me. Needless to say he was surprised at all. I made a face.

"Jeez, can't you at least humor me?" I asked him. Amusement flickered in his eyes.

"Sorry," he said simply. I sighed and crossed my arms. I plopped back down on the ground and Itachi sat across from me. We were both silent, something that was driving me nuts.

"Hm, it's times like these that I miss fish breath," I said absently. Itachi made a 'hmph' type noise.

"I'm surprised he didn't kill you," he muttered. I giggled.

"Nah, I'm too cute to kill," I told him. Oh...oh my...

"YOU'RE SMILING!" I shrieked, jumping up and pointing my finger at him. Sure enough, there was a very small, almost undetectable smile gracing his face.

"Did you think it wasn't possible?" he asked me quietly. I titled my head and sat back down, closer to him than I had been before.

"Not really, no offense, but you're kind of emotionless sometimes, but it's ok, I still love you," I told him smiling. A second later I realized what I had said. I had told him that I loved him...again. His dark eyes were on mine, his smile gone. I didn't move. I can't believe I was so flipping stupid! How could I let that slip...AGAIN! Seriously brain, we need to get together and have a little talk about filtering my words.

"You say that so lightly," he said, almost too quietly for me to hear. I leaned closer to him and put one hand around my ear to try and help me hear him better. He just raised his eyebrow at me.

"Sorry, I didn't quiet catch that," I told him, giggling. He blinked, his eyes going completely soft for a moment. I felt my face flush a dark red.

"It's nothing, Mizuki," he said, almost whispering my name. I had to admit, I loved the wa he said my name...oh my, I was becoming a hopeless romantic! Just like Kitty! Ah, no!

"Hm?" Itachi said, bringing my attention back to the present. I smiled and scratched the back of my head.

"Sorry, I was just talking to myself...in my head."

"Is that something you do a lot?" he asked me. I nodded. Once again I saw that smile, this time I resisted the urge to freak out, though on the inside I was doing the moonwalk...

"I like it when you smile," I heard my voice say. I slapped my hand against my mouth. Why the hell did I say that!? Ugh, brain! I'm going to kill you.

"..." I refocused my attention on Itachi. He had said something, but it was too quiet for me to hear.

"Hm?" I questioned, he opened his mouth to repeat himself, but then he looked up, like a sound had caught his attention. He stood. I looked up at him confused.

"Someone is coming," he said darkly. I stood and braced myself next to him. Hey, if push came to shove, maybe I could just annoy the guy to death? Anything was possible at this point.

A moment later someone came through the trees and it was...oh snap!

"Itachi, long time no see, hm." Yep, it was everyone's favorite terrorist, Deidara and...Yumi?

"Well...this can't be good," I said to no one in particular. Yumi crossed her arms and glared at me.

"You think?"

**A/N: Sorry this chapter is a little late and not very good. I've been so busy preparing for Christmas, cooking, cleaning, etc. I'll try and do better Wednesday, I promise. Please don't hate me!**


	15. Chapter 15: Katsumi

**A/N: I seriously love all of your support guys, every time I see a new review I get really happy and even when I'm having a bad day you guys can cheer me up. Now, in other news the week of Christmas I won't be updating, mainly because we always have a family Christmas at my house that requires me to cook...I can't cook, seriously I suck, meaning I have to keep cooking over and over again until it's able to be eaten, also I have a ton of cleaning to do and it's all just a huge mess. I love it though! By the way, remember, when I hit 50 reviews I'll do another double chapter week! Anyway, onto the story!**

**Chapter 15: New Events**

_Katsumi_

"I'm really going to miss her," I said, referring to Mizuki. After we had gotten Itachi out they had ran off, leaving Yori and I alone in the village. With Rika on a mission with Sai, Lei preparing to go back to Suna, and Yumi travelling with the Akatsuki, Yori and I were the only ones left in Konoha. Not that it was a bad thing, Yori and I got along fine, but to be honest, we didn't really talk very much.

"Me too," Yori said with a soft smile. I put my arm around her shoulders.

"Oh well, at least we have each other," I told her. She smiled at me.

"And Shikamaru, right?" she said with a smirk. I felt my face flush.

"Huh?" I choked out. She giggled, her pink eyes teasing.

"Don't think we all haven't noticed. You and he have been getting along a lot more now," she said as we began walking through the streets of Konoha. I felt myself flush even more...making me a silver haired tomato.

"I wouldn't go that far. He's just been helping me train," I told her, avoiding her eyes.

"Katsumi, I've seen you holding his hand before, it's obvious he likes you," she told me. I sighed.

"I don't think so. I'm not his type. He likes plain girls and I'm kind of..."

"Like Mizuki on chocolate?" Ok, now before anyone gets confused, chocolate has the opposite effect on Mizuki, instead of getting hyper and even more wound up it made her...me. A little crazy and emotionally unstable...at least that was what my therapist told me.

"You're still wrong though," Yori said, butting into my thoughts. I refocused on her.

"I don't think so, you don't see how cold he is towards me sometimes, besides I'm just too 'troublesome' for him," I told her sadly. Yori smiled at me.

"Katsumi, you have no idea how wrong you are. He cares about you, more than he probably even knows. I can see it, I'm not stupid," she told me. I scoffed.

"Please, if that were true then he would have at least kissed me by now," I told her rolling my eyes. To be honest the thought of Shikamaru kissing me, thrilled me to no end, but I knew it would never happen, just like how I knew he would never come up to me and just randomly be like 'Katsumi, I love you'! It was just impossible.

"Katsumi!" I nearly jumped out of my skin at the sound of his voice. Yori just smiled and elbowed me to get me to talk again.

"Oh, hey Shikamaru," I said with a smile. My heart was still pounding in my chest, making me feel breathless. He just had to show up while we were having this conversation. He stopped in front of us and nodded in greeting to Yori. It was then that I noticed the serious expression on his face.

"Did something happen?" Yori asked, noting the same thing I was.

"We just got word that Jiraiya is dead," he told us. We both gasped. We had seen the episode, so we knew it was going to happen, but the timing was all wrong. It was like we had skipped certain events. I racked my brain, trying to think of what happened next, then I remembered.

Pein was going to attack the village.

"That's awful," Yori said sympathetically.

"Is Naruto ok?" I asked, realizing that I should at least say something. I wondered if we should tell Lei what was about to happen, but then I remembered that he brought everyone back to life, meaning if one of us got hurt, it wouldn't matter. In others words, there was no point in telling her. It would only make her worry and then she would stay instead of going back to Suna.

"He's holding up alright, I just wanted to let you know because I've been asked to help decode his last message and I won't be able to train you for a while," he told me. I felt a little surprised that he had told me a head of time, but then I shook it off and smiled.

"Thanks for letting me know," I told him. I felt a small pressure on my side and glanced over at Yori who was giving me a small smirk. I rolled my eyes and turned my attention back to Shikamaru, who had been giving Yori and I a strange look.

"Well, I'm going to go meet with Naruto and see what we can figure out," he said after a moment of silence. I nodded and he left, leaving Yori and I alone. I turned and glared at her.

"Really Yori?" I asked her. She just shrugged, with a a smile on her face and started walking again. I just rolled my eyes and followed after her.

A sudden thought hit me as we walked, this was the first time I had hung out with just Yori. Normally I would be with both Yumi and Yori at the same time because the two never left each others side, but now since we had been in this world, Yori was becoming more of an individual. She wasn't just an innocent shadow anymore, she was someone who I could get to know and for the first time, I wanted to.

"So how's Kiba?" I asked her, taking the same route she did. She stopped and cocked her head to the side.

"He's fine. He worries about me a lot though," she told me, a dreamy smile on her face. That was when the reality hit me. Yori loved him, like really loved him. This was more than a school yard crush. She felt the same as I did about Shikamaru. I just prayed she ended up happier than I was going to end up.

"Why does that not surprise me?" I said putting my arm back around her shoulders. She smiled at me.

"I feel like he'll always be here to protect me, but, no offense to my sister, he'll also give me the space I need to grow on my own and become who I want to be. I know that he supports me and will be here for me," she told me honestly. I felt struck speechless. Never before had I heard Yori speak this much. Normally she was quiet and innocent, hearing her talk like this...it made her sound so much older than what she was.

"You really love him," I stated. She just smiled.

"Hold it!" Yori and I froze. That voice...it couldn't be. Both of us turned around and I felt my jaw drop.

"Oh my god...Lee?" Sure enough it was the jumpsuit clad wonder running towards us at top speed. Yori and I gave each other a confused look and then refocused on the teen in front of us.

"You two! Are you the friends of Rika Furude?" he asked us. I raised an eyebrow.

"Um...yes?" I answered uncertainly. Then we heard another noise...it sounded like...a war cry...coming from...above us? I looked up...

Oh my god, Gai sensei was falling out of the sky...

"Any friend of Rika's is a friend of ours! Now come, we're about to train with Neji and Tenten," he announced. I was a little too stunned to speak, but thankfully it took more to shock Yori.

"We would love to," she said with a smile. I looked at her.

"We would?" I asked shocked. She gave me a pointed look.

"That is great! I am Rock Lee and this is my sensei," Lee introduced. Yori smiled.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Yori Yama."

"And I'm Katsumi Tekai." Gai gave us a thumbs up.

"Now let us go Lee!"

"Gai sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai sensei"

"Lee!"

"GAI SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"Ok, let's go already!" I said trying to break up the love fest. Yori just smiled. I just knew I was going to live to regret this.


	16. Chapter 16: Yori

**A/N: Alright, so this is the last chapter I'm going to post until the sunday after Christmas. Also, only six more reviews until I do a double chapter week too! I am seriously loving all of your support! Everytime I get a new review I get really excited and I tell all of my friends who I based the characters off of and they get happy and then we end up talking for hours about ideas for the story which only makes me post more and you get the gist. Anyway, onto the story!**

**Chapter 16: Making New Friends**

_Yori_

"Ok, I think I'm going to take a break, you guys are wearing me out," I told Lee and Katsumi. Katsumi gave me a 'you're leaving me alone with THEM' look, that I disregarded, while Lee just looked like crying. I walked over to a nearby bench so I could still watch them all train. Tenten and Neji were both late so I had been training with Gai-sensei, Lee, and Katsumi for about an hour.

What they didn't realize was that I was not built for physical endurance. That was Yumi's department, though it was good to learn some evasion tactics. As a healer it was smart for me to know how to. I smiled as I watched Katsumi running away from Lee and Gai as they tried to get her to wear one of those weird jumpsuits. I was really glad to get closer to her. I wished I could have the same opportunity with the other girls.

Before we had come to this world, I hadn't really spoken much to the rest of them. I only ever connected to my sister. Then I met Kiba and started connecting to someone else and I learned that maybe connecting with someone other than Yumi was a good idea. Footsteps behind me caught my attention and I turned to see Neji, Tenten, and Hinata walking over. They all seemed surprised to see me and Katsumi, making me realize that they haven't met us yet. I smiled.

"Hi, I'm Yori Yama, the girl being forced to wear a jumpsuit is my friend Katsumi Tekai," I introduced. Hinata did that cute thing with her fingers, Tenten smiled, and Neji just kind of...well he stared.

"Hi, I'm Tenten, and this is Neji and Hinata," the bunned brunette told me. I stood up and shook her hand.

"So where are you from?" Hinata asked me in her quiet voice. I chuckled.

"Um, that's kind of a long story," I told her.

"Oh, I don't mind," Hinata said.

"We need to go train, it was nice meeting you," Neji said pulling Tenten away. I sighed.

"Are they ever going to get together?" I muttered to myself. I heard a giggle behind me and turned. Hinata was giggling shyly. I smiled at her. She had always been one of my favorite characters. I guess my quiet nature appealed to her shyness. I sat back own on the bench and gestured for her to sit beside me. She did, not saying anything. The two of us watched the others train quietly until she finally broke the silence.

"Are you the girl Kiba has been seeing?" she asked me. I felt my face flush a little bit.

"Um, yeah. Yeah I am," I told her with a shy smile. She was quiet again.

"He really likes you," she told me. I nodded. The only reason he wasn't here with me was because he had been sent away on a mission. He had been so reluctant to go and leave me here, but there really wasn't much trouble I could get into if I stayed in the village.

"Yeah," I replied.

"He's supposed to come back today." I nodded.

"Yep." I bit my lip. I knew she was heading somewhere with this, but she seemed to be avoiding it.

"Hinata, is there something you want to say?" I asked her in a gentle tone. She smiled a little.

"Well, I just wanted ask you to not get hurt, Kiba cares about you a lot and if you got hurt, he would be devastated," she told me softly, avoiding looking at my eyes. I felt my own widen, before I reached out and placed my hand over her's.

"I know. That's why I want to get stronger, I want to be able to protect myself so he won't have to worry about me. Even though I'm not really a fighter, I want to become one," I told her. She smiled at me.

A moment later there was a sound. A loud sound, that reminded me of an earthquake. Hinata and I stood up and Katsumi, Gui, Neji, and Tenten ran over to us. I felt my blood run cold. This all seemed very familiar, but I couldn't place what was happening. I met Katsumi's panicked blue eyes, then I watched as her eyes went blank and she fell to her knees.

"Katsumi!" Lee said, kneeling down next to her. She was having a vision, meaning something bad was about to happen. A moment later her eyes cleared up and she sighed. She looked up at me, tears in her eyes and opened her, mouth to speak, then we heard the sound again.

"What did you see?" I asked her. She tried to speak, but she sounded like she had a lump in her throat.

"Katsumi!" we heard another voice call.

"Shikamaru!" Tenten said, he ran over to us, his eyes on Katsumi. She looked at him, but then looked back to me.

"Yori..."

"We need to get ready!" Shikamaru interrupted.

"What's happening?" Hinata asked.

"The Akatsuki is attacking." So that was what I couldn't remember. Pein was here.

"Then what are we waiting for!" Gai shouted running towards the sound of devastation. Lee followed after, along with Neji and Tenten. I cast a look at Katsumi, who was being helped up by Shikamaru. She was whispering something to him. I was curious as to what she was saying, but I wanted to help, so I followed Gai's team. I heard Hinata call out to me, but I ignored her.

This was my chance to show everyone that I had gotten stronger.

It wasn't long before I was stopped by one of the Six Paths of Pain, it was the one with the creepy smile, who had no hair. His ringed eyes were on me, stopping me in my tracks. I took a step back and moved my hand behind me to grab my shuriken, but I wasn't fast enough.

Without any hesitation, he launched forward and hit me. His hand going right through my stomach. The last thing I saw was Kiba running towards me. My last thought was that I hadn't been strong enough. Then everything went dark and I died.


	17. Chapter 17: Yumi

**A/N: I'm back, yay! I plan on doing another chapter to make up for the one I didn't post on Christmas, also I finally hit fifty, meaning another chapter! So that means...are you ready for this? THREE CHAPTERS! Exciting, right? I'm also really excited because my friends Trystin, one of the friends I based one of the characters off of, is finally getting around to reading the story! Yay!**

**Chapter 17: It's Getting Hot In Here...**

_Yumi_

"What the hell Deidara!" I snap, flipping around on him. There are three mats laid out of the, are you ready for this? HARD WOOD FLOORS, emphasis on the word HARD! There was no way I was going to sleep on a thin mat on the floor, absolutely no way. I had more self respect than that.

"What, hm?" he snapped back. I gave him a look and then gestured to the mats. Tobi just wandered over and started circling on one of them like a puppy. We both promptly ignored him, as always. Deidara shrugged.

"I asked for a traditional room, yeah." I rolled my eyes.

"I would've prefered a bed," I muttered, claiming the mat on the opposite end of Tobi's. This left Deidara with the middle mat. _I hope Tobi rolls on top of you in his sleep_. I thought sourly. He just smirks at me and moves to remove his cloak. I feel my face begin to flush and I avert my eyes.

"What, hm?" he asks, his voice teasing.

"Tobi thinks that Yun-yun doesn't want to see senpai undressing," Tobi stated. I threw my pillow at him while Deidara just chuckled.

"Aw, is Yumi shy? I didn't expect that, yeah," he says moving closer to me. I look at him, and felt my face flush even more. He had removed his cloak, revealing a thin mesh top and grey pants. His arms were folded across his chest and he was giving me an infuriatingly mocking smile.

"No! I was just being polite! You would avert your eyes if I was undressing!" I snapped. He raised an eyebrow.

"No, I wouldn't." I groaned and stood up. Keeping my eyes on the floor, I stomped past him to the door.

"I'm going to the hot springs," I mumble, opening the door. Slamming it behind me, I make my way down the hall to the changing rooms. I wasn't really sure why I had reacted that way. It wasn't like I haven't seen semi-naked men before. Most guys didn't even consider me a real girl and would sometimes just change right in front of me and it had never bothered me before, but Deidara...

Maybe it was just because the guy was just so damn cocky. I mean really, would a little modesty kill him. Even if I had been looking, I'm sure he would have mocked me for it. Either way I wouldn't have won. Tobi was no help either. The little twit didn't know when to keep his mouth shut. I groan to myself as I wrap a towel around my now naked form.

Sliding open the door, I enter the hot spring, steam drifting up into my face. I walk of to the edge and remove the towel. I let my body sink slowly into the warm water, until only everything above my nose is covered. I hated to admit it, but Deidara actually looked pretty good, I mean I had seen him without his cloak before in the anime, but it was different than seeing it live an up close. I could see the scars from when he had his arms replaced and various other small battle scars around his body. There were small burns too, probably from failed explosions.

A part of me wanted to run my fingers across those scars.

Jeez, what was I thinking?

I sounded like a hormone driven teen. Someone shoot me now. I blow some bubbles and dunk my head completely in. I don't think you're supposed to do it, but I really didn't give a shit at this point. I kept having to force my mind to think about other things and not that idiot Deidara. I try and think about my friends. I wonder how they are doing and if they were pissed that I had left. I hoped not.

Finally, I felt myself beginning to over heat so I stood, water dripping from my skin, and climbed out of the spring. I wrapped my towel back around me and hurried inside, my skin was already breaking out in goosebumps from the cold air. Once inside I dried myself and pulled on one of the robes. Sitting on the bench, I started braiding my black hair.

It wasn't until I was tying the a ribbon in it that I felt it.

It was a sharp pain in my heart. It felt like I was being stabbed. I gasped and clutched my chest, my breathing turning ragged. I tried to stand, but the pain was crippling. I ended up falling to the ground in a heap. I curled in on myself, trying to make the pain stop, but it didn't. In fact it got worse, it felt like a hot iron was being shoved into my chest, twisting the deeper it went. My mouth was open in a silent scream and my vision started to blur.

Was I dying?

"Yumi, what's taking you so long, yeah?" Deidara's voice said from the other side of the dressing room door. I mouthed his name, silently pleading for help.

"Senpai? Is Yun-yun alright? Maybe we should check on her," I heard Tobi say. I silently thanked the lucky stars for idiots.

"She'd probably just get mad, but whatever, yeah," Deidara grumbled. The door slid open, revealing the pair. It took both of their eyes a moment to spot me on the floor, but once they did, their eyes grew in panic...well Deidara's one eye did and I just assumed Tobi's did, because he also gasped. Both moved towards me.

"Yumi? What the hell's the matter with you, hm?" Deidara asked, picking me up from the floor. I couldn't answer, the pain had rendered me a mute.

"Oh no, Yun-yun is hurt! YUN-YUN, DON'T DIE ON TOBI AND SENPAI!" Tobi cried. I wanted to roll my eyes, but I had squeezed them shut. I felt Deidara carrying me back to our room. I felt him place me on my mat, the pain was beginning to fade, but something was wrong. It felt like a part of my had just died. My breathing was labored as I opened my eyes and focused them on Deidara and Tobi.

"What happened?" Deidara asked, forgetting his speech impediment for the moment.

"YUN-YUN, TOBI WAS SO SCARED! HE THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO DIE! DON'T DIE ON TOBI!"

"TOBI!" Deidara snapped. The man-child went silent as Deidara glared at him with his visible eye.

"Why don't you go get some food and water? It might make Yumi better, yeah," he growled.

"Aye-aye, senpai!" he said with a salute. My eyes followed him as he left the room. Deidara's eyes refocused on me and I looked a him. He looked slightly annoyed, but there was something behind the annoyance. Something very similar to...worry?

"Start talking, hm," he commanded. I forced myself to sit up, though my limbs were still shaking. I felt like I had died and been brought back to life.

"I don't know what happened. I was just sitting in the dressing room and then this pain hit me," I told him. He gave me a look and then crawled over to his mat. I watched him settle in to sleep. I thought about Tobi, but then shrugged. For all I cared, I hoped he got locked out of the room. Then exhaustion finally hit me and I drifted off to sleep.

_"Yumi?" I turned. Yori was standing there, surrounded by darkness, her soft pink eyes looked confused._

_"Yori? Where are we?" I asked her. She smiled sadly._

_"I don't know," she told me. She began to walk towards me, the ground around her feet rippled, making it look like she was walking on water. When she stopped in front of me she reached out a hand and touched my face._

_"You felt it," she said to herself._

_"Yori, where are we?" I asked. She just smiled again._

_"If I told you, you would come rushing back to Konoha, but you can't. You need to be here, with him. It's where you belong, I can feel it," she told me. I gave her a confused look._

_"What do you mean?" I asked. She looked like she was about to respond, but then her body was encased in green light. She looked around herself and then back at me._

_"I have to go," she told me._

_"Wait!" I said, but it was too late, she was gone._

My eyes snapped open. Jeez, what did I eat last night to have a dream like that? My growling stomach answered that question, nothing. I closed my eyes and snuggled my face closer to my pillow. It smelled really good, like cedar and clay. It was warm too and nice and firm...wait a second. My eyes popped open again, and this time, I sat up.

Sure enough, somehow in our sleep, Deidara had ended up half on my mat half on his and I had ended up using his stomach as a pillow. I felt my face flushing and I curled my hands into fists. I was just about to hit him when I caught sight of his face. In his sleep, his hair had moved from his eye. I guess he had taken off the scope because I could see it clearly. He looked so different asleep, so much more...peacful, and definitely not as cocky.

"Are you going to stare at me for much longer, hm?" he muttered. I felt my anger returning as I punched him in the side. He sat up, his hair flopping back down to cover his face and glared at me.

"What was that for, hm!" he snapped. I sneered.

"That was for being an ass, now hurry up so we can go," I said standing. Deidara's glare faded and was replaced with a shocked expression while his face seemed to flush.

"What?" I asked. Then I looked down.

Oh.

My.

God.

I was still wearing the robe and I guess at some point in the night, it had come untied. Meaning Deidara could see the front of me...naked. I quickly shut it, slapped him in the face and stormed out the room to the bathroom. I dressed quickly and in an angry huff. When I had finished I went back into the room to see Deidara ready and...no Tobi.

"Where's the idiot?" I asked. He shrugged.

"No clue, he disappeared, hm," he told me, not looking at me. I thought about it for a moment. I guess this was around the time he decided to come out as Madara, only this time, Deidara didn't die, so I guess it was just me and him.

Great timing you evil bastard.

We left the hotel and started walking in silence. I wasn't really sure where we were going, but I did know that we had been walking for a long time. It wasn't until the late afternoon that Deidara started picking up the pace, telling me he sensed something. He seemed excited, meaning we were probably going to be in a fight. I rolled my eyes. Leave it to him to drag me into this shit.

Finally he stopped and I looked up seeing...holy crap not again!

"Long time no see, hm," Deidara said with a smirk.

"Well, this can't be good," I heard Mizuki mutter. I crossed my arms, giving her one of my standard Yumi-glares.

"You think?" In that moment she seemed to realize it was me and her entire face brightened and she ran forward.

"Yumi!" she said giving me a flying hug. I rolled my eyes but hugged her back. That was when I noticed Deidara was still completely focused on Itachi. I nudged Mizuki and she looked over.

"Well crappers," she muttered. I nodded. There was going to be a fight...

**A/N: Whoo! Long chapter! I was watching The Strangers while I wrote this and now I can't stop looking over my shoulders. Seriously though, if you like scary movies, watch The Strangers, you won't be able to stop looking behind you. Speaking of scary movies, I have to ask. What's your favorite scary movie? I'm curious. =3 I'll tell you mine next chapter.**


	18. Chapter 18: Rika

**A/N: So here we go, the second chapter to my three chapter posting spree! So, news, after Lei's chapter I will be doing another feature chapter and this one will be featuring...*drumroll please*...Deidara! Pretty exciting, yes? Oh and as for my favorite scary movie, that would be a resounding answer of The Shining, A Haunting in Connecticut, and (don't laugh) Hide and Seek but as for movies that still scare me, that would be either The Strangers or The Grudge. Seriously, I always feel on edge after watching those movies.**

**Chapter 18: Fluffyness Does Not Come From a Book!**

_Rika_

Sai was asleep. I didn't even think that was possible and yet, there he was, actually asleep. He looked different when he slept. So much more relaxed and I could even see moments where hs face would change in accordance to whatever it was he was dreaming. I wasn't even sure why I wasn't asleep to be honest. I felt exhausted after we had spent all day on the move, but once we finally settled down, I felt wide awake.

It felt almost like I was forgetting something, something important.

I shook my head, trying to shake the feeling off. Nothing was going on, for the moment we were all safe. Mizuki was with Itachi, who I knew would let nothing bad happen to her. He was a pretty strong guy and was hard to defeat, so Mizuki was fine, Yumi I was a little less sure about, I knew she was with Akatsuki members, but I didn't know which ones, but I did know that out of everyone, Yumi could handle herself. Yori and Katsumi I wasn't worried about at all, they were safe in the village.

"Rika?" I shifted my eyes back over to Sai. He was no longer asleep and his dark eyes were focused on me. I gave him a small reassuring smile.

"Hey Sai, what are you doing up?" I asked him. He propped himself up on his arms, still watching me.

"What are you doing up?" he countered. I chuckled.

"I couldn't sleep." He cocked his head to the side

"Why?" he asked. I sighed.

"I'm not sure, I just can't sleep." My eyes shift over to Yamato sensei. He was still stone cold asleep. Lucky for us I guess, well at least me, those eyes of his really freaked me out and every time he looked at me I got chills. If he ever gave me the look he gives Naruto when he's being annoying I'm pretty sure i would pee myself and start crying.

A shuffling sound catches my attention and I turn my head. Sai had pulled out a book and was flipping through it. I tilted my head so I could read the title and frowned. You have got to be kidding me. I reach out and grab the book from his hand, giving him a 'really?' look. He just looks confused.

"_'Being a True Romantic'_?" I ask raising an eyebrow. His face remained impassive, but I think I saw some color appear in his cheeks.

"I was doing research," he told me. I sighed and rolled my eyes.

"Romance doesn't come from a book you know," I tell him, handing the book back. He closes it and places it back inside his pack. He looks back at me his eyes curious.

"Then how does romance work?" he asked me. I felt my pale face flush. He just had to ask...

"Well..." I start. To be honest I really didn't know how it worked, it just did. He watches me expectantly, waiting for me to continue.

"I guess romance comes from the heart. It's doing something for someone else to make them happy and to let them know you care. Why do you want to be romantic anyway? Got a special lady in your life?" I tease. I feel a tightness in my chest, like I'm anxious to hear the answer, which confuses me, because really, why do I care who he likes. He gives me a fake smile.

"I can't tell you. A part of the book said being mysterious can be romantic." I rolled my eyes.

"More like being mysterious can be annoying. That only works if you're keeping some deep emotional turmoil locked up inside and the girl has a chance to save you from it," I told him. Hey, I read a lot of romance novels...sue me. He cocks his head to the side, in thought. I just sigh. My exhaustion was finally starting to catch up with me, making me crave sleep.

"Look, just do something that will make her happy, that's all," I tell him. He just nods and writes this down in a little notebook he had removed from his bag. I roll my eyes and lay down. I fall asleep to the sound of his brushstrokes on paper.

When I wake up the next morning, Yamato is still asleep and the sun is just starting to rise. I rub my eyes wishing I could have slept more, but I had been having nightmares. I kept seeing Konoha destroyed and Katsumi crying. I decided to listen in and see if everything was alright back in the village so I closed my eyes and reached my awareness all the way back to the village. It only took a moment before sound filled my ears. I heard...

Destruction.

Building sounded like they were crashing down, people were screaming, ninjas were giving battle orders. My eyes snapped open and I placed my hand over my mouth. I knew I had been forgetting something. Pein was attacking! I thought back to my dream. What if it was telling me that Katsumi was going to be hurt? My breathing quickened and I tried to calm myself down.

I wasn't the one with visions of the future, that was Katsumi. If anything bad was going to happen, Katsumi would see it. I took some deep breaths, whispering that thought to myself over and over again, like a mantra.A noise caught my attention.

Sai was back from whereever he had been. His sketch pad was in his hand and he was watching me with curiosity. Knowing him, he was trying to decipher my facial expression. It probably looked a cross between panicked and worried. I tried to make myself smile to reassure him, but I failed. I watched him as he walked over to me and kneeled down.

"Is something wrong?" he asked me. I debated telling him about Pein, but then I remembered that Yamato would have to go back anyway, but he couldn't go back before Naruto meets his dad. If he did, he would seal the fox before anything could happen. If I told him, he and I would have to be the only ones to go back. I wanted to go back, I wanted to make sure that Katsumi and Yori were alright, but how could I do that?

Then it hit me. I'd pretend to be sick so he would have to take me to Yori. I opened my mouth to speak, but then Sai stopped me.

"I wanted to give you something, Rika," he said tearing a page out of his sketch pad. I felt myself flash back to when I saw that drawing of me. Did he want to give it to me? He handed the paper to me and my breath caught in my throat. All thoughts of worry flew from my mind as I stared at what he had given me.

It was a picture of me, but this one was different. I was wading through a small pool of water that was being fed by a small waterfall. The waterfall cast shadows and rainbows everywhere and while my body was turned towards the falls. My face was visible and my hand was outstretched towards another hand. A very familiar pale hand that was reaching out to me, longing to join me.

It was so beautiful.

All my worries were gone, all that was left was my amazement. I looked up at Sai, who was watching me closely. I was unable to keep the smile from my face as I looked at him. I watched as his lips slowly turned up in a real and genuine smile. I knew now that I didn't want to leave this mission just yet. Yori and Katsumi would be fine, I believed in them.

"You like it?" he asked. I nodded enthusiastically.

"It's beautiful." He whispered something. Something I didn't quiet catch. It almost sounded like, 'so are you.'

**A/N: Thought I'd give everyone a good dose of fluffiness. Also I did see the request for more fluffyness between Lei and Gaara, I plan on doing so in the next chapter it's just difficult with them sometimes because Gaara is kind of stoic and Lei is kind of stoic and...yeah, anywho I'll try in the next chapter, I promise. =)**


	19. Chapter 19: Lei

**A/N: Ok, so before everyone keeps hating me, I do have a plan with Yori, she is not out of the story, I promise! Just bear with me and you'll know what happens here in the next cycle. Also, right after this chapter will be Deidara's feature chapter! Yay! Also, the next double chapter week will be when I hit 80 reviews so keep reviewing!**

**Chapter 19: Confusion**

_Lei_

"I forgot how freaking hot the desert is," I groaned as we made our way across the sand. Kankuro grinned at me and I shoot him a dark glare. He immediately looks away, refocusing on the empty wasteland in front of us.

I wasn't sure how long we had been walking, but I knew that I was sick of it. I really hated everything about the desert. It was hot, sandy, and went on forever. I sighed, I really needed to stop complaining. It was my choice to go to Suna, though to be honest I would have rather stayed in Konoha with the others, but they didn't need me anymore, or so they thought.

We'll see how they do without me. They'll need me before I even know it.

Right?

"We're here," Gaara mutters from beside me. I glance over at him. Though he didn't show it, I could almost feel his relief at being back. He really loved this village. The thought kind of shocked me. When I had first seen him in the anime and learned about his history, I thought he would hate the people of Suna forever for what they did to him, but somehow he has come to love it.

All because of Naruto.

"Thank god," Temari said, quickening her pace. Kankuro followed suit, but Gaara stopped, causing me to freeze as well. He pale blue eyes stayed focused on the village.

"Temari, Kankuro, you go on a head. I want to talk to Lei," he told them. I raised an eyebrow, wondering why he would want to talk to me. The siblings seemed unsure at first, but then Kankuro shrugged and kept going. Temari hesitated a moment, staring me down. It was as if she thought the answer to why he wanted to talk was written on my face somewhere.

Finally she gave up and followed her brother, leaving me alone with Gaara.

For a moment I was kind of afraid. Being alone with him reminded me of when he was unstable and he killed without remorse. I wondered if he could do that to me and then I scoffed to myself. As if I would let him. All I'd have to do is look him the eye and he would do whatever I told him to. I felt like Lelouch from Code Geass. I mentally facepalmed, I was becoming such a nerd...

"Lei." Gaara's voice brought me back to reality. I crossed my arms in front of my chest and raised an eyebrow.

"What?" I asked. My tone was defensive, though I didn't mean for it to be. I was still hurt from my friends' abandonment, but that was no reason to take it out of him. He was quiet for a moment. His eyes watching me. Though we weren't very close, I could feel his tension. Whatever he wanted to talk about was really eating at him.

"I've been noticing, you are the same," he says, muttering the last part. I cock my head, a little confused.

"The same as what?" I asked, doing my best to sound relaxed. He was quiet again and then he started to move closer. Slowly, I felt my muscles begin to tense up, it was like I was preparing to be hit, though I knew he wasn't going to hit me.

"The same as me," he tells me, stopping directly in front of me. I want to feel confused, but I understand what he's saying immediately. I close myself off from those thoughts. I was nothing like him.

"No." He doesn't flinch.

"You know it." I shake my head.

"No. I'm nothing like you. I don't have blood on my hands." I let that like part come out as a hiss. This time I get a reaction. It's small, but it's something. I don't wait for him to say anything else, I just push past him and head into Suna.

I don't like being told who I am. I'm Lei, not Gaara. I'm nothing like him and I never will be. I have friends and I had a family. I wasn't alone. Nobody had hurt me as I child. I lived a normal life, and yet...since I've been here I've felt...different.

I shake my head again.

No, I wasn't. I was still me.

When I finally reached the Kazekage's building I travel through the halls to the room I had stayed in before. I remember when I had woken up to find Gaara there. I had been so surprised. I wondered if he was going to let me stay here after what I had said. I wasn't really sure, but I figured for the night I was fine. I unpacked my pack and flopped onto the bed. Though the sun was still out, I was exhausted and it wasn't long before I felt my eyes slowly drift closed as I sank into sleep.

_It was dark. Everything was dark and then I saw a light. I moved towards it. There was a figure standing, shaking, staring at her hands. They were clean, but then there was a flash and they were coverd in blood, then another flash and they were back to normal._

_I called out to her, but she didn't here me so I reached out and touched her shoulder. She turned and...oh my god...she was me. Her reddish brown eyes flashed red as she looked at me and before I could do anything else, a stream of images filled my head._

_Red eyes, blood, dead bodies, A figure clad in shadows standing with his arms upraised, staring at the me I had just seen. She smiled serenely as she gave herself over to him. I watched as he drained all of the chakra from her body and she fell to the ground dead._

My eyes snapped open and my breathing was labored. That had to have been one of the weirdest nightmares I had ever had. I closed my eyes and pressed the back of my hand to my sweaty forehead.

"You were dreaming," a deep voice said from the shadows. I looked up, meeting pale blue eyes. I gave him a sardonic smile.

"Are you here to tell me to leave?" I asked him. He shook his head and moved over to me.

"I was watching you sleep," he said. I felt more than slightly taken aback.

"Someone's a creeper," I muttered, covering my embarrassment with sarcasm. He remains silent. I sigh.

"So what do you want?" I ask. Again silence. I wait and then finally he speaks.

"Don't let it consume you," he says quietly and then he's gone, leaving me alone in my confusion.

**A/N: Phew, I hope that was ok. I'm trying to keep Gaara in character, but it's hard sometimes. Anyway this is the last of the three chapters. I will be back to regularly posting on Sundays and Wednesdays now so I'll see everyone Wednesday!**


	20. Chapter 20: Deidara

**A/N: Ah Deidara's feature chapter! So exciting! I love Deidara so I hope I do him justice. I would also like to give everyone a big happy New Year's! To be honest, I am so excited for this year. 2012 was kind of crappy and a lot of bad stuff happened, but I don't regret any of it, but this year is a new year which means new experiences and meeting new people! Anyway, here we go!**

**Chapter 20: Mine**

_Deidara_

"You're not seriously thinking of fighting him are you?" I hear Yumi's exasperated tone from behind me. I smirk. Of course I am, but I don't plan on telling her that. Knowing her, she'd be stupid enough to try and stop me and with that irritating speed of her's there would be no way I could keep her from getting herself killed. I shifted my eyes to take in the other girl.

I remembered seeing her at the meeting with the Akatsuki with Itachi and Kisame. Yumi seems to know her, not that it matters. Something about this other girl irritates me. My eyes moved back to Itachi, the familiar feeling of hate came boiling up. This was a man who didn't respect me, who looked down on me, but he wouldn't anymore. Not after today.

"Mizuki, leave," Itachi muttered. My smirk widened. The red-head's eyes got bigger and filled with worry. Yumi, being the stubborn girl she was, grabbed her friend's hand before she could move. Her pupiless eyes were determined. I clenched my teeth.

"We're not leaving," Yumi said through gritted teeth. I swear this girl was infuriating. I don't know why I got stuck with her. At least Tobi had vanished and I didn't have to deal with him anymore. Itachi's sharingan eyes shifted over to Yumi. I could see the defensive glint there, making me want to make him a work of art more than ever before.

He was not touching Yumi. She was mine.

She may have been annoying, stubborn, foul-mouthed, and grated on my nerves, but she was mine. No one else was going to touch her. I only tolerated Tobi because he has the mentality of an eight year old. I wasn't even sure when I had started seeing her as mine, but she was.

"Yumi," I said, bringing her attention to me. She moved her, kind of creepy, eyes over to me and glared. I smirked at her. That glare of her's really wasn't as intimidating as she wanted it to be, I thought it was more funny than anything.

"Yes?" she asked, her tone implying that she really wasn't too keen on whatever it was I was about to say. Not that I cared. I liked the challenge. I made a show of dipping my hand into the clay pouch at my hip, she just raised an eyebrow.

"You're in range," I told her. She scoffed.

"Please, if I wanted to I could be out of range in seconds, and I could take Mizuki with me," she pointed out, adding that last part for Itachi's sake. I ignored her and began to process of fusing my chakra with the clay, preparing myself to kill Itachi, something I had wanted to do for a while.

"Deidara, I won't fight you," Itachi stated. I smirked at him.

"Ah, but that's no fun," I commented. His sharingan eyes watched me, mocked me. I wanted to destroy him so I never had to see those eyes again. I shaped the clay in my hand, making a bird. I needed to get further from him. Before I released the bird I reached up and took the scope off my eyes. I had been preparing for this for a while.

"Deidara don't, please!" My eye shifted towards Yumi and the other girl. She had been the one to speak. Her green eyes looked panicked and Yumi looked like she was struggling to hold her friend back. She leaned down and whispered something in her ear. The red head something back and Yumi smacked herself in the face. What the hell were they talking about.

"Mizuki," Itachi said. Her green eyes shifted to Itachi and she frowned.

"Sorry, but I'm not going to just stand here while the pyro over there goes all 'art is a bang!' everywhere and then there's going to be a huge crater in the ground and I'm going to be all sad and then Yumi has to deal with it and you, Mr. I-love-to-blow-things-up-because-I'm-a-psycho, are stuck with me along with Yumi!" Whoa...so...she was an idiot. That meant I definitely didn't want to be stuck with her.

I groaned.

"Fine, whatever, but one day I will kill him," I said crushing the bird and putting it back in the pouch. Yumi sighed and walked over to me. Her blue-green eyes were blazing and when she finally stopped in front of me, she slapped me...again.

Once I recovered, I glared at her.

"You really have to stop doing that," I commenting, flicking her in the forehead.

"Hey!" she protested. I just waved her away.

"Um...Yumi?" She turned and looked at her friend, who was looking both shocked and amazed. Go figure, not many people who slapped me got away with it. The only reason I didn't kill Yumi was because...well I guess it was because she was kind of fun to screw with. No to mention she looked good naked.

"Hm?" She looked back at Itachi.

"Do you know what happened?" she asked. Yumi shook her head and sighed.

"After you left, Danzo tried to kill Itachi so we had to flee from the village...that's a really fun word by the way flee...ffffffllllllleeeeeeeeee, teehee. Anyway, we're running from Konoha right now and Itachi is actually a little weak," she explained. So he was weak, huh? As if sensing my thoughts I felt Yumi's hand smack my chest.

"Don't even think about it," she warned. Ok, she may have looked good naked, but unless she walked around naked, I didn't think I could take much more of her nagging.

"Also, I think you should go back to Konoha," Mizuki said. Yumi's head snapped back to Mizuki.

"What? Why?" she asked in a panicked tone. I raised an eyebrow, wondering if this had anything to do with the sister she always talked about. I kind of wanted to meet her sister. From how she talked about her she seemed like an interesting person and she knew more about Yumi than I did. Meaning maybe if I could talk to her I could learn more about her. The idea made me smirk. Then I would have more to tease her about other than the one time I saw her crying.

I still remembered that. I remembered being to shocked to really do anything about it. I didn't really think Yumi could cry, but when she had come back she did. I hated admitting it, but I had missed her while she was gone. Her coming back was something I didn't really expect either. I think that was when I had started thinking of her as mine.

"Deidara," Yumi's voice said. I raised an eyebrow at her. She looked grave.

"I need to go back to Konoha, Mizuki told me that Yori may need me," she told me. I was confused.

"What makes her think that?" She sighed.

"Well, like how I can run fast, Mizuki can track people, no matter how far and she said that she can't sense Yori anymore." I knew what this meant.

"Well, then I guess I'm going with you," I told her with a shrug. Her eyes popped.

"What?"

"I have nothing else to do, I can't kill Itachi yet so I might as well go back with you." Then she smiled and all I could think was, she's mine.

**A/N: Sorry if this was a little crappy. I kind of see Deidara as being really possessive so...yeah. Remember, 80 reviews equals another double chapter day!**


	21. Chapter 21: Mizuki

**A/N: Mizuki's chapter, yay! Only eight more reviews before I do a double chapter week, how exciting is that? So, story of the day, I was hanging out with a friend of mine, just minding our own business when, I kid you not, this random trucker dude came over us and WOULD NOT STOP FREAKING TALKING! I think he was trying to get us to come with him, because he kept pointing out which truck was his. It was really creepy. Alright, now, onto the chapter. **

**Chapter 21: The Return of Jaws!**

_Mizuki_

"Phew, I'm glad that's over," I sighed, letting myself relax. I had to admit, Yumi sure had a good handle on Deidara. I was kind of surprised...it was pretty funny though. I shook my head and looked back at Itachi. He seemed to be a bit more relaxed too...and hot, but then again, he always looked hot.

"Are you alright?" he asked me. I smiled at him.

"Of course, Yumi wasn't going to let anything happen to me, besides, I was more worried about you," I told him honestly. He raised an eyebrow, which kind of made him look a little creepy because his eyes were still all sharingan-like.

I expected him to say something else, but he didn't. Instead, he just turned and continued walking away from the village. I frowned. Something must have been bothering him. I wondered if he had wanted to fight Deidara, but then I remembered that he didn't really ever want to fight anyone, so it had to be something else. I thought back to everything that had happened.

And then I ran right into Itachi's back. Stupid inability to multi-task!

"Kisame." My head shot up. Ok, wasn't expecting this.

Sure enough, it was sharky in the flesh...er scales? He was leaning against a tree, almost like he was waiting on us. His beady little eyes focused on us before his face split into a grin, revealing the sharp teeth. I'm not sure why it took me so long to really process that he was there, but after a good minute of just staring slack jawed, my inner idiot revealed herself.

"You...JAWS! EVERYBODY GET OUT OF THE WATER! HE'S HERE!" I shrieked pointing at him. I could almost see the vein throbbing in his head, as he resisted the urge to beat the heck out of me.

"Will you shut her up," Kasame asked through gritted teeth. I huffed.

"Sorry, I don't come with an off switch," I said with a sweet smile. Itachi turned and looked at me and had to resist the urge to gasp. He looked...really pissed...at me! What did I do? Again, I tried to think about everything that happened since Yumi left. I didn't think I did anything wrong, so why was he mad?

"You're still alive," Kisame commented, refocusing his attention to Itachi. He didn't respond. Kisame moved away from the tree and walked over. I would like to go a head and clarify that what happened next was not my fault! Kisame should have known better.

"Dun-na...dun-na...dun-na dun-na, dun-na, dun-na, da-da-da-DA!" I sang, earning myself another glare from Itachi. Jeez, seriously, what did I do to piss him off? Kisame on the other hand ignored me, which was a first for him, I think.

"What do you want, Kisame?" Itachi asked. The shakr grinned.

"The leader wants you to come back, of course," Kisame told him. Itachi was silent. Then he looked back at me, his eyes weren't sharingan-ed anymore (is there a correct phrase for that, seriously, I'm dying here!) and he didn't look as mean anymore. I sighed in relief.

"Let me speak with Mizuki...alone," he said. Kisame held up his hands and chuckled. His beady eyes focused on me.

"It's your funeral," he said to him, though it felt more like he was directing the comment towards me. I narrowed my eyes.

"Watch it Jaws, keep in mind that I could follow you everywhere," I said in a threatening tone. He seemed kind of confused, but I'd like to believe there was a hint of fear in his expression. A moment later he had retreated into the trees, leaving me alone with Itachi.

"So...did I do something wrong?" I asked him. He turned to me, his face expressionless as usual, but there was something different in his eyes...

"You're friend...can you really not sense her?" he asked me. Oh, Yori. I closed my eyes and reached out my awareness, searching for Yori. I easily identified Katsumi's chakra in the village, Yumi's chakra heading towards the village, Rika's chakra somewhere in the land of fire, I could even sense Lei's chakra in Suna, but I couldn't find Yori anywhere. I opened my eyes.

"No, I can't find her anywhere, but I'm not really worried. She could be out of range or I could just not be able to sense her. I just tried yesterday and couldn't find her. I'm sure I would know if something was wrong," I told him. His dark eyes watched me.

"That's not always the case. You need to see," he told me. I was confused.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I mean, I want you to go back."

"WHAT?" I squeaked. He couldn't really mean that, not after everything we had already been through. I thought I had made it pretty apparent that I didn't want to be anywhere away from him.

"You need to go back." I shook my head.

"I can't do that!" I protested. He walked towards me while my shock kept me rooted to the spot.

"You did what you came here to do, you gave me my life back, for that, I thank you," he told me. Slowly, he reached a hand up and brushed some of my curls from my face. I closed my eyes, savoring the feel. His hands were so soft. Then they were gone and he was walking away.

"But...I told you before! I love you!" I blurted...again. He stopped moving and turned slightly.

"And I don't feel the same, you may have saved my life, but that does not mean I care for you." His voice...it sounded so cold. It hit me like an arrow to the heart. I could only watch as he walked away. Leaving me alone with only the sound of my heart breaking echoing in the silence.

**A/N: Dramatic, I know. The good news is, if I get eight more reviews I'll post two chapters Wednesday. =)**


	22. Chapter 22: Katsumi

**A/N: READ THIS! So, I'm really sorry if my chapters aren't up to par for a while. I kind of accidentally...well I cut the tip of one of my fingers off while cooking in the kitchen. Yeah I know, I'm stupid. I don't even know why I'm even trying, I'm a terrible cook, but I thought I would just give it a go and make some vegetable soup...it turned into vegetable and blood soup. Anyway, that's why I'm posting this early, don't worry, I'm still going to post Wednesday and if I hit 80 reviews I'll still do a double chapter week And now onto Katsumi's chapter.**

**Chapter 22: My Fault**

_Katsumi_

"Yori!" I shrieked! I knew that this was going to happen. I had seen it in a vision, but seeing it in person...it was a whole other story. The Path of Pein's arm was IN her and his hand was protruding out of her back. It looked like there was an odd...deformity growing out of her.

I ran over to her as fast as I could, thinking that maybe I could make it in time and Yori would still be ok, but I knew that there was nothing I could do. Yori was the healer, not me, and I didn't think she could heal herself. The Pein flung her unceremoniously off his arm, letting her body slam against a nearby wall. Her soft pink eyes were wide and filled with pain as she slide to the ground.

Anger welled up inside me. How dare he treat her so callously? She was sweet and caring, she did not deserve to have her body slammed against a wall by a monster. I kept running, but not towards Yori, towards the man who had hurt her, even though she knew that she didn't stand a chance. He just needed to pay for what he did. I wanted to hurt him.

"Katsumi!" I heard Shikamaru say. I didn't look at him, but I saw the shadow snake past my feet towards the unsuspecting Pein. The shadow had him a moment before I finally made it to him. I pushed off the ground, launching myself in the air and twisted, aiming a kick right at his jaw. My foot made contact and his head twisted back, and before I could hit the ground I pulled back my fist and slammed it into the other side of his jaw. I felt a satisfying crack and I hit the ground, before heading straight over to Yori.

I wanted to continue beating on him, but I didn't know how much time my friend had.

"Yori? Yori, please be ok," I begged as I knelt beside her. Kiba was already there, he had pulled her head onto his lap. His hand was knotted in her white hair, his eyes were wide and fearful, something I had never expected to see in his eyes.

Yori's eyes on the other hand...they were open and...empty. The soft glow in her pink eyes were gone, leaving her looking soulless. The hole in her chest was slowly leaking blood and her white hair was tinted pink from the wound in the back of her head from being slammed against the wall. I gently reached down, planning on placing my hand on her face, but instead it went to her heart and I felt...

Nothing.

Yori was gone.

"No," I whispered. Kiba's eye moved to me and narrowed in fury. I instantly backed off. The look in his eyes was starting to freak me out. He gently placed Yori's head back on the ground and closed her eyes, then he stood, glaring at me.

"She shouldn't be dead, it's because of you and your friends that she's dead. She wanted to be stronger, like you, and now she's DEAD!" he snarled. I held up my hands in a calming gesture, but he just kept moving towards me. My eyes moved to Yori's...*gulp*...body. I wanted to go to her, try to clean her up a little, try and make her look more like...Yori, but I didn't dare try to move past Kiba while he was like this. He was like a wild dog.

I opened my mouth to say something to try and calm him down, but then another voice stopped me.

"Kiba, leave Katsumi alone. Right now we need to stop the Akatsuki," Shikamaru said. I turned towards him only to find that he was a lot closer than I had thought. My nose almost hit his vest. I quickly turned back to Kiba, realizing it was a bad idea to turn my back on him when he was like this. Kiba snarled one last time and then looked down at Yori. His face soften and then his yes met mine. They looked a lot gentler this time, thank goodness.

"Take care of her," he told me. I nodded. Then he was gone. I looked back at Yori and walked over to her. I took her cold hand in mine and looked up at Shikamaru.

"I'm not leaving her," I told him. He nodded.

"You don't have to," he told me. I was a little confused, but a moment later I knew what he was planning. He was going to protect me. I felt the familiar feeling of love well up inside of me, but then I pushed it down. I needed to be prepared to protect Yori in case she needed it. I wasn't going to let anything more happen to her, she had already gone through enough.

I brushed my hand across her cheek. This wasn't supposed to happen. I should have been able to stop it. I had never been able to prevent one of my visions before, so why? Why was Yori dead? Kiba was right, it was my fault. I was so shocked by what I had seen that I didn't tell her right away and now here she was, growing colder and colder by the minute. I hated this.

I hated this world or taking her from me.

"Katsumi!" I looked up. It was Yumi. My heart fell into my stomach. No, no, no, no, not her. She was going to hate me, I knew she would. I had let her sister die.

Her blue-green eyes were wide and worried and behind her was...Deidara? I subconsciously reminded myself to ask her about that later. I looked back down at Yori and then back at Yumi, who had stopped moving towards me, her eyes focused on the shell of her sister.

"I'm sorry," I told her in a quiet voice. She shook her head.

"No, this can't be Yori, she can't be dead!" she said falling to the ground. Deidara stayed standing, his eyes focused on the destruction around us, but he stood close to Yumi, in an almost protective stance.

"She is," I told her. Her eyes started filling with tears and for the first time in my life, I saw Yumi Yama, cry. I went to reach for her, but then everything was quiet, like the calm before the storm.

"Get down!" I heard Shikamaru yell. A moment later, all hell broke loose.

Buildings all around us exploded. Yumi and I moved quickly to cover Yori's body and Diedara, moved over Yumi. I saw Shikamru fall, his leg caught under a piece of debris. I felt worry flash through me, but then I remembered. This didn't kill him...in fact...Pein's attack ended up not killing anyone. A moment later, it was over and we all breathed a sigh of relief. I met Yumi's eyes.

"Yumi, do you remember this?" I asked. She gave me a confused look and then shook her head.

"No."

"This is Pein's attack and at the end of the attack, after Naruto defeats him, he brings everyone he killed back to life!" I told her. Yumi' hand went to her mouth. We weren't going to lose Yori. Not today.


	23. Chapter 23: Yori

**A/N: I am so sorry I wasn't able to post Wednesday! I caught a bug or something and I was in bed sick until today. I'm still sick, but this is the first day I've been able to do anything other than sleep and drink water. I did ht eighty reviews which, of course, means a double chapter day! So I will be posting another chapter today. Also, I will be posting tomorrow, on schedule. So without further ado, here's Yori's chapter. =)**

**Chapter 23: Life**

_Yori_

Death was strange. I didn't really know what would happen when I died, not that I really thought about my own death very much. It felt like I was floating in an empty void, surrounded by darkness. It almost felt like I was falling and I would reach out and try to grab something, but there was nothing there to hold onto. I kept waiting to see a light, like the one you always here about from people who have almost died, but there was nothing, just darkness.

I wondered if I was in purgatory. I knew I wasn't in hell, because I wasn't really suffering, I was just...there.

"Yori! Katsumi, get over here, it's happening!" I heard my sisters familiar voice say through the dark haze. Suddenly, instead of floating or falling, I felt like I was flying upward, so fast that I was forced to close my eyes against the wind, then, just as suddenly as it had started, it stopped. Too afraid to open my eyes, I kept them shut. Sounds filtered in through my ears, so different from the silence I had been in before.

"Is she waking up?" I heard Katsumi's voice say. Wait, Katsumi? Then...was I alive?

"I don't know, her eyes aren't opening, but her hands are warmer." Yumi? Was that Yumi?

"Should I go get Kiba?" Kiba? Kiba! My eyes snapped open and all I could think about was what this must have done to Kiba. I had died, I know I had died, and all I could think about was what that must have done to Kiba.

"Yori! She's opened her eyes! She's alive!" Yumi cried grabbing me in a hug. I hugged her back without really thinking. All I could think about was Kiba. He needed to know I was alive before something bad happened to him or before he did something bad to himself.

"Yumi. Katsumi," I said to the two of them. Looking at them made me feel like I was seeing them for the first time. I guess I had never really imagined how much my friends would miss me, or how much I would miss them, if I was gone, but looking at them now, Katsumi, beautiful, fun, emotional Katsumi and Yumi, my sweet sister who had been forced to harden her heart for my sake, I couldn't imagine leaving them again.

"Yori, you're alive," Katsumi said her eyes filling with tears. I smiled at her and touched the now sealed hole in my stomach.

"I guess I am, but I need to find Kiba, he needs to know I'm ok," I told them urgently. Katsumi nodded, but Yumi looked a little offended. I would have to deal with her wounded emotions later, but for the moment, I was focused on Kiba.

"I'll go try and find him," Katsumi told me before for shooting off. Shikamaru, who looked like his leg was broken, seemed like he wanted to follow, but couldn't.

"Don't worry, it'll be ok. It's over now," I told him softly. He gave me a confused look, but then seemed a little more relaxed. That was when I noticed who was here with Yumi.

"So this is your sister," I heard him say. His one visible eye stared me down. It almost felt like he was trying to see right through me. Yumi looked over at him and then back at me, before taking my hand in hers and smiling.

"Yeah, this is Yori," she said. I could hear the tears in her voice, but I knew she wasn't going to cry. It wasn't in Yumi's nature to cry. I held out a hand to him.

"Hi," was all I could think of to say. He stared at my hand for a moment, but a kick from Yumi made him roll his eye and take my hand.

"Your sister talks about you a lot. It's kind of annoying," he said. Yumi glared at him. I smiled at her. I was so glad to be alive again, to be able to see this. Yumi seemed a lot lighter around him. More playful and less...mean? Harsh? Was there even a word to describe my sister without making her sound evil?

"Yumi!" I heard a familiar voice call out. Yumi's head snapped up and her eyes widened.

"No way..." she muttered. I followed her gaze and saw...Mizuki?

"Mizuki? What are you doing here? I thought you were going to stay with Itachi?" I asked her. Her eyes darkened for a moment when I said his name, but then there normal light returned when she realized I was ok. In other words I had to brace myself for 'the flying Mizuki hug of doom.' (Her name for it not mine.)

"YORI! YOU'RE ALIVE! I COULDN'T SENSE YOU ANYMORE AND I WAS SO AFRAID YOU WERE DEAD, BUT YOU'RE ALIVE!"

"Um, Mizuki? She's not going to stay alive if you keep squeezing her like that," Yumi pointed out. Mizuki looked at me, which I'm sure by that point I was turning blue and let me go.

"Oh, heh heh, oops," she said with an awkward smile. I smiled back. Strangulation or not, I had missed her. I know it had only been a day or two since she had left, but it was hard not to miss Mizuki, no matter how long she had been gone.

"Yori!" His voice. I didn't even realize how empty I had felt until I heard his voice. He looked stunned, amazed that I was sitting up and moving. He had thought I was dead, gone and now here I was, alive. I knew why, Pein had given everyone their lives back, but he didn't. He probably thought he was just seeing things, but the closer he got, the more I could tell he was realizing that I was real.

"Kiba," I breathed. Then he was there, holding me tightly against him. I felt my eyes tear up, I felt so guilty for doing this to him. For making him worry. Everyone saw him as a harsh animatistic person, and don't get me wrong, he was, but he was also sweet and vulnerable and fiercely protective of the people (and animals *cough, cough* Akamaru) he loves and that was why I loved him.

"You're alive," he said. I nodded, smiling through my tears.

"I'm alive."


	24. Chapter 24: Yumi

**A/N: Alright, second chapter of the day. How happy is everyone that Yori isn't dead? I had fun writing all that because I kept thinking, what would it be like to die and then have a second chance at life? It's an interesting question. Well in other news my finger is doing better, meaning I'm finally starting to be able to type at normal speed. Yay! Alright, onto Yumi's chapter. =)**

**Chapter 24: What Now?**

_Yumi_

Watching Yori and Kiba made me feel kind of awkward after a while, so I looked away, meaning I was facing a smirking artsit...yay. I glared at him and crossed my arms over my chest. All of the worry and fear I had for Yori had faded the moment she opened her eyes. She was alright, that was all I needed to know. Other than that, I needed to try and focus on myself more, something my dear sister had taught me.

"What do you want?" I asked Deidara. He shrugged.

"Your sister is very different form you," he told me. For a moment, I felt a flash of that familiar jealousy, but then I pushed it down. I had no reason to be jealous. One, Yori was obviously in love with Kiba and two I didn't care about Deidara like that...right?

"Well duh, did you really think I would tolerate a sister who was just like me?" I asked him, raising my eyebrow. He chuckled a little bit and then looked back at Yori. Katsumi was talking to Shikamaru, both of them casting looks in my direction, before she finally walked over to me.

"Hey Yumi?" she started.

"Hm?"

"Well, I was talking to Shikamaru and we think that your Akatsuki friend needs to get out of here before the dust settles and people start to notice," she told me. I sighed. I knew this was going to happen. I looked at Yori, who was whispering with Kiba, and then at Mizuki, who was, oddly enough, solemnly staring out at the destruction. I wondered what was wrong with her.

Back when I had seen her with Itachi, everything seemed fine, but now, she just looked sad and he was no where to be found. I wondered if maybe they fought about something, but I had no idea what about. A part of me wanted to talk to her about it, but I knew Katsumi was right. Deidara and I needed to get out of here before something bad happened.

Care about him in 'that way' or not, I still didn't want him to get hurt.

"Let me just say by to Yori and Mizuki, I don't know when I'm going to see you guys again," I told her. She smiled at me, her bright blue eyes starting to tear up. I rolled my eyes and put my arm around her. There had been enough crying today.

Once I had let go, I moved over to Deidara, who was still staring at my sister.

"She looks like you, though a little softer," he commented. I slapped him lightly, giving him that same look married women give their husbands when they check out other women...not that I thought he was checking Yori out! Though he was a perv..., but still!

"She is softer. She's sweet and kind and everything I'm not," I told him. He gave me a confused look before smirking.

"I don't think I would like you if you were like that," he told me. I smiled and then I remembered why I had moved over to him.

"We can't stay, we need to leave," I told him. He chuckled a little.

"What?" I asked. He just continued smirking. I just rolled my eyes and moved over to Yori. I didn't really want to interrupt her, but I needed to tell her that I had to leave. Katsumi gave me a reassuring look and I sighed before walking over to Yori and Kiba. Neither of them noticed me until I tapped my sister on the shoulder. She looked up at me and for a moment I was so overwhelmed.

My sister, she was alive. She was here in front of me, breathing. I had always thought of her as the one constant in my life and knowing that she could be taken away so easily...it made me realize that I shouldn't take her for granted. To be honest, I really didn't want to leave her, I wanted to stay and guard her, protect her, but I couldn't. It was time for me to live my own life.

Besides, Kiba would guard her with his life.

"Yumi?" she questioned. I knelt down next to her and gave her a small smile.

"Hey, Deidara and I need to leave before someone notices him," I told her. She frowned.

"I guess. I'm going to miss you," she told me. I felt my eyes starting to tear up, but I pushed my emotions down. I never wanted her to see me cry.

"I'm going to miss you too," I said softly, so no one else would hear. Yori smiled at me and leaned forward to give me a hug. I held her tightly. I had just gotten her back and I didn't really want to let her go. My eyes moved to Kiba, who gave me a subtle nod, letting me know that he would look out for her. I guess I was lucky that someone would in my absence.

"Don't worry, I'll be back before you know it," I told her. She smiled at me and I stood back up and moved over to Mizuki. She didn't seem to notice me, she was too lost in thought.

"Hey," I said, catching her attention. She turned towards me and smiled.

"Hey Yumi," her eyes moved towards Deidara, who, I realized, was still standing pretty close to me.

"I guess you're leaving," she said. I nodded. I waited for her to have a freak out moment like she always does, but she didn't. Instead, she just gave me a small smile.

"Can you do me a favor?" she asked. I nodded.

"Of course," I told her. She sighed.

"If you see Itachi, please tell him," she paused, emotion forcing her to stop to calm herself down.

"Mizuki?" I said, worried. I had never really seen her like this. She was also so sunny and bright and playful, not like this. Never like this.

"Tell him that I forgive him," she said. I nodded, even though I was confused. She smiled at me and gave me a hug. I owed a lot to Mizuki. She was the reason I had the people in my life I had now, my friends. If it weren't for Mizuki, Yori and I would still be all by ourselves, us against the world and that was something I didn't want.

"I will," I told her. Finally I walked back over to Deidara, who was just watching me with curious eyes...er, eye.

"Are we going?" he asked. I nodded and looked one more time at Konoha, well the destroyed version of Konoha, and the people I love, before finally looking back at Deidara. He had become one of those people too. Someone I cared about.

"Let's go," I told him. He smirked at me and then we were gone.


	25. Chapter 25: Rika

**A/N: Ok so now we are on to Rika's chapter, good stuff. I'm proud to announce that the next person to be featured will be...Sai! I'm so excited to do his chapter because I have some big plans to ease some of the tension that's about to come up. Also, I'm just going to take a moment to tell everyone who has been reviewing thank you, because your reviews mean a lot to me and they make my day all the time. I seriously love it. Anywho, onto the story!**

**Chapter 25: That Was Unexpected...**

_Rika_

"Should we go back?" I asked Sai. Yamato had just shot off, just finding out the that the seal on the nine tails was breaking. He didn't tell us what to do after he left so now the two of us were just kind of sitting here...quietly. It was kind of unnerving really. Sai looked up from his book, his dark eyes impassive.

"I'm not sure," he replied. I sighed and stood up. I was getting antsy just sitting around doing nothing.

"Well, I think we should. I'm tired of just sitting here and besides, the village might need us," I reasoned. Sai closed his book and put it in his pack before standing up. Without saying anything he shot off. I stared after him for a moment. Ever since Yamato left, he seemed a little...off. Actually, since the other night he seemed a little off. I wondered if I did something wrong for a moment, but then I just shook it off and followed after him.

I wasn't really sure how long we had been running when I suddenly saw something that caught my attention. There was a face...staring at me through the trees. The eyes were wide and childlike and...familiar. I stopped running and stared back. The eyes seemed very similar to my own, only instead of violet, the eyes were an amethyst color. I took a step towards the face and the eyes got wider. That was when I realized it was a little girl.

Then something strange happened.

My eyes drooped and I felt my body sway on the tree branch. The face turned and walked away through the trees. I reached out my arm to try and stop her from running away, but I couldn't speak. It was like all of the energy had been drained from my body.

"Rika?" I heard Sai say. I opened my mouth to reply, but then my eyes drifted shut and I felt myself falling.

"Joshiki? Joshiki, look out!" My eyes snapped open, but I was still falling. Before I could hit the ground, I managed to flip my body around so I landed on all fours. I sighed and looked up at whoever had spoken. My eyes met a wide pari of amethyst colored ones. It was the same girl before! Only now I could see the rest of her. Her hair was raven black like mine, but was pulled into pigtails. If it was even possible, she was even smaller than me.

"Who are you?" I asked her in a breathless voice. She placed her hands on her hips and gave me a confused look.

"What are you talking about Joshiki? It's me, Kasumi," she told me. I shook my head.

"Still don't know you, and my name is Rika," I told her. She giggled.

"Jeez did that fall damage your head? I'm your sister!" I felt my jaw drop. Sister? But...I was an only child. There was no way I could have a sister!

"I don't have a sister," I said, echoing my thoughts. Kasumi sighed and held out a hand to help me up. I took it, but I was still a little confused.

"Yes you do. You really must have hit your head pretty hard, if you forgot. I've only been around for ten years!" she said in a bitter tone. I smiled and instinctively patted her on the head. I froze. What was I doing? I didn't know this girl, did I?

"Now, come on, you have to meet No and Hato soon," she said starting forward again. Hato...No...why did those names sound familiar. Then it hit me, those were the names of our past lives! Then was this...a memory?

I followed after Kasumi, curious as to which one of my friends were No and Hato. A couple times, Kasumi looked back at me, as if making sure I was alright. Each time I would smile at her. I really didn't know how Joshiki would react to certain things. Was she like me or was she different. Was she nice to her sister, did they get along and for that matter, what was Kasumi like? I was staring at her streaming raven hair when she stopped. I moved up next to her and followed her gaze. There were two shapes in the distance.

"I'm worried about you Jo," she said, using a nickname. I felt my heart pick up. This could be my chance to find out more about our past lives!

"Why is that, Kasumi?" I asked her. She looked up at me, her eyes looking wide and fearful.

"I don't trust No! She has seemed really different since she started hanging out with the Sage! You said so yourself, she seems...scary," Kasumi said, her eyes moving away from mine. I frowned and looked back out at the two figures in the distance.

"What makes you think that?" I asked her.

"I heard you all talking. You were talking about the Ten-tailed beast and tried to find a way to seal it. The Sage said that he didn't have enough power to seal it within himself and then when he and No were alone after the rest of you left, she offered herself. He told her that wouldn't be enough and she..." Kasumi stopped, but I had to know more.

"And she what?" I prompted. She looked up at me, her little amethyst eyes filling with tears.

"She offered to talk the rest of you into giving him all of your chakra," she told me. I felt my blood run cold. I didn't know anything about Joshiki, but I knew that if she were anything like me, she wouldn't be willing to leave a ten year old sister behind. So what changed? Why did they do it? And most importantly, which one of us was No?

"Don't worry hun, I'm not going to leave you," I told her, knowing full well it was a lie. She smiled at me and grabbed me in a tight hug. I hesitate for a moment and then hugged her back, wishing I could have had a sister in this life, maybe she would have been like Kasumi.

I left her on the branch behind me as I moved forward to meet Hato and No. I needed to know who No was, and this could be the only time I could find out who she was. As much as I hated to even think it, we might have to watch out for one of our friends and I needed to know which one it was. I finally stopped and took a moment before catching my breath. Hato and No both turned towards me and I had to contain my gasp.

It was Katsumi and Lei.

Katsumi's hair was cut much shorter, almost up to her ears, but it was still silver and her eyes were still the same bright blue. She looked older though., her body much more developed. Lei looked almost the same only there was a smile on her face and she too looked older...but which one was No?

"You're late, Joshiki," Lei said crossing her arms. I smiled.

"Yeah, sorry about that, I was with Kasumi," I told her. Katsumi smiled.

"How is your little sister? We don't really get to see her much any more," she said.

"Yeah," I said, not really sure what else I could even say. Then I heard the bushes rustle and out came...oh my god. It was the Sage of Six Paths. His rinnegan eyes looked through us and then finally settled on-

"No," he said in his deep voice. My jaw dropped. No...she was-

Before i could finish that thought I felt my eyes drift shut and my body collapse. I opened my eyes a moment later when I felt myself being caught. I looked around and then finally my eyes landed on my savior. It was Sai, no surprise there.

"What happened?" he asked. I couldn't answer him. I was still reeling from learning who No was.

It was impossible, but I knew what I was. The friend we needed to look out for, the one who may have manipulated us into giving up our lives all those years ago...was Lei.


	26. Chapter 26: Lei

**A/N: Lei's chapter, I hope all of you all are excited for this one because a lot is about to happen. I'm not saying this story is close to being over yet, but we are starting to get to the end of everything. I still predict that this is going to be over fifty chapters though. Anywho, like I said this chapter is going to be a huge turning point and I'm so excited! Alright, onto the chapter!**

**Chapter 26: Options**

_Lei_

"This is the second time I've woken up with you in the room," I muttered. When I had opened my eyes to the sunlight streaming in through the windows and Gaara standing in the kitchen. There was a smell of food in the air, telling me that he had been cooking. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. Gaara was watching me so intently you'd think I was doing something amazing.

"I made breakfast," he told me in his quiet voice. I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stood up. I was still in my clothes from the night before so I decided to go and change in the bathroom.

He didn't say anything as I walked over to the bathroom and closed the door behind me. Why was he bugging me again. First the whole talk when we got back to Suna, then when I woke up the first time, and now, seriously, what was his problem? There wasn't anything wrong with me, yes that nightmare last night scared me, but everyone had nightmares. I was normal, completely normal.

"So why are you here now?" I asked in exasperated tone as I walked into the kitchen. Gaara's pale blue eyes shifted over to me, but he didn't say anything. I picked up the plate of food and started eating. I didn't recognize the dish, but it was definitely good.

Gaara just watched me, his face expressionless. I tried my best to pretend that he wasn't there, but it was really difficult, considering he was standing so close to me. I inched away from him, feeling more than a little uncomfortable. He didn't move, just kept watching me. Eventually I just dropped my chopsticks on my plate, put my hand on my hip and glared at him.

"You can take a picture, it'll last a lot longer," I snapped.

"You're like how I was," he told me. I raised an eyebrow.

"Are you really bringing this up again? I am not a killer," I repeated, slowly so he could get it through it head.

"That's not what I mean," he told me.

"Oh?" I said, sarcasm dripping from my tone. He was really starting to get under my skin. How many times would I have to tell him that I wasn't him. I was different. I was a good person. I may have been a little harsh sometimes, but I was still better than him. I. Had. Never. Killed. Anyone.

"You are dark and you need to accept help." I felt myself puff up.

"Dark? I'm dark? There is nothing dark about me!" I said, feeling my hackles rising. He just stared at me, blankly.

"I see it. You need to accept it," he told me. I scoffed.

"I don't have to accept anything," I said. Before he could say anything more I slammed my plate down on the counter and stomped out of the room. I felt Gaara grab my wrist and I turned. I knew my eyes had turned red as I used my influence on him.

"You will not come after me," I snarled. I watched his eyes flash red for a moment and then he released me. I flipped around and made my way out of the room. I was leaving Suna and I was never coming back. I wasn't going to Konoha either.

My friends didn't want me back, they didn't need me anymore and I didn't need them. I didn't need anyone. I was not dark. I couldn't ever be dark. I was a good person. I was going to go show them. I would have to.

"Going somewhere?" a deep voice said from behind me. I flipped around, prepared to bite whoever's head it was off, but then I froze. This was...unexpected.

"Hello, Madara," I said crossing my arms across my chest. The man in question was leaning against the entrance to Suna, I watched him as he pushed off the entrance and made his way over to me. I didn't flinch. If I had to, I would use my power on him. My influence made me able to avoid a fight with anyone. With it, I was stronger than everyone.

"Lei Mei, that is your name, right?" he said once he had stopped in front of me. I met his gaze evenly.

"It is," I told him. He reached out a hand then and before I could even do anything to stop him, his hand darted out and covered my eyes, rendering me unable to use my power. I inwardly cursed. I should have expected something like this. Madara wasn't an idiot after all.

"I have a proposition for you," he said. I scoffed.

"Yeah right," I muttered. I heard him chuckle.

"It's time you remembered the truth, No." That name...it sounded so familiar, then I felt it. It was like something was being pumped into my head. A moment later I felt my knees buckle and I collapsed. My breathing became labored and I felt myself starting to blackout. I forced myself to look up at him.

"What did you do to me?" I asked him. He didn't say anything, he just watched me through the hole in his mask.

"I'm helping you remember," then I was out.

_"No, I don't have the power to do this. The ten-tailed beast can't be sealed unless I have more power," the Sage told me. I frowned and grabbed his arm._

_"You have to, the beast will destroy the village if you don't. You could take my power!" I told him. He frowned and brushed a hand across my face._

_"That would kill you, and I can't do that to you. I love you." My eyes welled up with tears._

_"I love you too, but if you need to take my power to seal it then you need to do it!" He shook his head._

_"Your power isn't enough," he told me, being honest for the first time. I sighed. Then an idea came to me._

_"What about if the six of us gave you our chakra?"_

_"No, I don't want to do that to your friends or you. You all were my first apprentices, I'm not going to let you sacrifice yourself for me. I'll handle this with my own power," he said beginning to walk away. I reached out and grabbed his arm before he could get very far._

_"Please, let us do this, you'll die if we don't," I told him. He sighed._

_"If you can convince your friends to do it, then I will accept it, but if even one of them refuse, I'll do it on my own." Then he was gone, leaving me alone. I needed to convince them, no matter what._

My eyes opened. What was that? What was I seeing? I looked up at Madara, who was still watching me.

"Lei," he said. I shook my head. I wasn't Lei, my name was No. Wait, that wasn't right, I was Lei and I was in love with the Sage of Six Paths, no. That wasn't right...who was I? My head was getting heavy and I felt myself drift off again.

_"Please guys, I really need this, he needs it!" I pleaded. Joshiki shok her head._

_"I have to look out of Kasumi, I can't just give up my life. She depends on me," she told me. Yasashi-sa frowned._

_"She's right, we're only in our twenties, we have so much to do before we die."_

_"Yeah, you may have fallen in love, but Sashi-kun and I haven't yet," Tsuyo-sa said._

_"Look, he'll die unless we help him and the village will be destroyed! We have to do this!"_

_"No we don't! Look, we all appreciate the Sage for what he's done for us, but we can't do this!" Enerugi said. I folded my arms across my chest._

_"I'm sorry, No. We just can't," Hato said softly. I didn't say anything back I just turned away. How dare they! The Sage had taken the time to teach all of us jutsu and yet here they were, refusing to help him! They were going to let him die! Well I wasn't going to let him die. They were going to do this, whether they wanted to or not._

My eyes fluttered open again. Who was I? Was I No or Lei? What did I do to my friends? Where was Joshiki, no wait...I mean Rika...What was happening to me?

"You're remembering your part in the past," Madara said, as though he was reading my mind. My eyes drifted closed once more and I was lost again in the past.

_"You will give your life to the Sage," I ordered Yasashi-sa. Her eyes flashed red briefly and then she nodded._

_"Fine, I'll do it," she said after a moment. I smiled. Things were working out. Tomorrow we would all die for the Sage. I just needed to find Joshiki._

_"What do you think you're doing?" I heard her voice ask from behind me. I turned around and faced her. My best friend. The only person i thought would be on my side. She betrayed me. I hated her. She was the reason I had to do this._

_"I'm saving his life," I snarled. She glared at me, her violet eyes blazing._

_"I heard you, you influenced her! You are making your friends give up their lives for you!"_

_"No, I'm doing it for him! He will die, Jo, you don't seem to understand that! I am trying to save his life!"_

_"By killing your friends?" I froze. No, that wasn't what I was doing. I was...I was saving his life. I was doing the right thing...wasn't I? Joshiki walked towards me, her eyes sympathetic._

_"Undo it No, you have to, this can't happen." I shook my head. No, I was doing the right thing. My hand snapped out and I grabbed Joshiki around her neck._

_"No. This. Has. To. Happen."_

_"No, don't do this," she choked out. I shook my head._

_"Sorry Jo, I really did love you." A moment later she was under my control._

"Please, please stop!" I cried. Madara chuckled.

"You did this Lei, years ago, you killed your friends and now you are going to do it again." I looked up at him with my tear streaked face.

"What?"

"Your friends hate you, they don't need you anymore, and you need to show them that you shouldn't be forgotten."

"They...hate me..." He was right. They didn't want me around anymore. Why else did they let me go to Suna without any protest? They didn't want me around anymore...I'd show them. I had the power to do it too. I would just do what No did years ago.

I would make them kill themselves.

Again.

**A/N: I know, dramatic right? Anyway, this chapter is early because tomorrow I'm going to be unable to post so I thought I would go a head and post this chapter now. Also, my next double chapter day will be when I hit 100 reviews, so keep that in mind. Also, the next chapter will be Sai's feature chapter so...I'll see you all on Sunday!**


	27. Chapter 27: Sai

**A/N: So...the first version of this chapter sucked so badly that I had to rewrite it. I hope this version is better, please review and tell me if you like it better.**

**Chapter 27: A New Mission**

_Sai_

We need to get back, now," Rika said to me. Her tone seemed urgent. I wondered what could have happened to her to make her seem so...unnerved. She just fell. Unless something else happened while she was falling.

"Is something wrong?" I asked her. She turned around and again I was struck by the color of her eyes. That violet color was so bright and vibrant, it always struck me when I saw it. I could never get her eyes right either. No matter how many times I drew her, I could never match that color perfectly.

"Yes, something is wrong, and we need to get back as soon as possible to tell the girls," she said flipping back around, sending her raven hair flying out in different directions. I cocked my head to the side, not really understanding what was wrong with her. She had seemed fine this morning. I wondered if it was because I had been cold to her.

I had been reading the book she had caught me with the night before. It suggested that if the person I was interested in didn't seem responsive I should be cold to her and play 'hard-to-get', but all it seemed to have done was make her upset. Maybe I just wasn't doing it right. I stood up and started following her. She was moving quickly through the trees, her small size making her able to move through the trees quicker than I could.

"Rika," I called out to her. She paused, half way through an area of trees. She looked like a cat trying to squeeze through a tight spot, her violet eyes were blazing as they looked at me. She looked...I think it was anger.

"What?" she snapped.

"What is going on?" I asked her. She looked like she was about to snap again, but then she sighed.

"We just need to get back. My friends could be in danger and I need to warn them," she told me. I nodded. I may not have understood bonds, but I was beginning to understand friendship. Naruto taught me that. I nodded and then we were on the move again. I followed closely behind her, wondering if what happened to her before was going to happen to her again.

After a while we reached the village and for a moment I was stunned to see the state of destruction the village was in. It looked like it had been attacked while we were away. My eyes moved to Rika, who's fists were clenched and shaking. Remembering something I once read in a book, I reached out to he and placed a hand, that I hoped was comforting, on her shoulder. She turned slightly and looked at me, her muscles relaxing a bit.

"I should have known..." I heard her mutter, as she turned back towards the village. I was confused.

"How could you have?" I asked her. She just shook her head.

"Never mind. We need to find my friends," she told me, moving in the ruins of the village. We traveled past many injured people, but no one was dead. It was strange that we didn't see any bodies after an attack of this magnitude.

"Rika?" My eyes moved forward, landing on the one called Katsumi. She was sitting next to Shikamaru, who looked like he had been injured with a broken leg. The other two girls looked over as well. The ones called Yori and Mizuki. They were all so strange, they looked like they didn't belong here, even though they did. It was more than just their strange powers that made them different.

"Katsumi! Are all of you alright?" Rika asked running forward and grabbing her friend in a hug. The blue eyed girl seemed surprised, but then she hugged her friend back. Then her eyes shifted to Mizuki.

"What are you doing back here?" she asked. The girl scoffed.

"Jeez, don't sound so happy to see me," she grumbled, but there was a smile on her face. Seeing them all react was something new for me. Unconsciously, I pulled out my notebook and began to take notes on how they were interacting.

"Um...What do you think you're doing?" Rika asked. I looked up only to see the four of them giving me confused looks. I didn't answer, I just closed the notebook and replaced it in my pack. Just then a member of the Anbu landed in between Rika and I, his back to her.

"Danzo requests your presence...Sai," he said, his tone sightly mocking when he said my name. I nodded and gave Rika a smile.

"I'll be back," I told her. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion, but she nodded anyway. I followed after the Anbu, member until we finally found Danzo. The old man turned and looked at me and I felt a quick stab of anger and hurt. Because of this man, my brother was dead.

"Sai, I have a new mission for you," he told me.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I need you to watch those girls. The healer in particular. There is something off about her and if she's a threat I may need you to...take care of her." Assassination. He meant for me to kill her. Yori was Rika's friend. I couldn't do that to her, but I could have no choice in the matter.

"Now go, watch them," he said, dismissing me. I nodded and went to return to the girls. Once I returned I was instantly met by Rika, who grabbed my arm and dragged me away. Once we were far enough from other people she turned towards me, her violet eyes blazing.

"You're not really going to do what he says are you?" she asked me. For a moment I was confused then I remembered that her hearing was far more sensitive than any normal person.

"I..." I started, but then I felt the seal on my tongue stopping me. Rika's eyes softened.

"You can't talk about it. It's the seal, but knowing Danzo he's probably having you watched, meaning you have to look like your doing your mission," she said, summing everything up. I nodded and she sighed.

"Welll...I guess you'll have to fake it, but if you end up hurting Yori, trust me, I will kill you," she said, snarling on the last part. I flinched at her tone. The last thing I wanted was for her to get mad at me. She was one of the few people I genuinely cared about and I didn't need her hating me.

"I won't, I promise," I told her, even though I knew I may not be able to keep that promise in the end.


	28. Chapter 28: Mizuki

**A/N: READ THIS! Alright, so if you didn't notice, the last chapter sucked...like hard-core sucked, no one even reviewed it, so I rewrote it and replaced it. Please, read the rewrite and tell me if it's any better. Now in other, more positive, news my email is finally fixed meaning that I can finally catch up on my beta-ing and such, also, I know I haven't been reviewing anyone's stories recently, but I've been busy, and I'm finally adjusting to everything so I'll be back around more. Now onto the story!**

**Chapter 28: Love Sucks**

_Mizuki_

"You know what I miss about the other world?" I asked, sighing to Katsumi. She looked at me, cocking her head to the side. Yori was still having some...personal timw with Kiba and Rika and Sai had gone off somewhere to talk, leaving Katsumi and I...well Shikamaru was there too, but he seemed a little more focused on talking to a gawky looking girl with glasses.

"Hm?" she asked.

"I miss emo music, you know, music you can sit in a corner and grow mushrooms to," I told her. I watched her eyes move from me to Shikamau and the other girl.

"I know what you mean. So what happened? I thought you were going to stay with Itachi," she said. I felt my emotions sour. She just had to mention him. Everything that had happened came flooding back. Those words, 'I don't love you,' echoed through my head. Did he mean those words? I shook my head and shrugged.

"I was worried about Yori. I couldn't sense her anymore," I told her quietly. Katsumi gave me that look, you know the look that says 'I-know-there's-more-to-the-story-than-that'.

"And?" she prompted. I sighed, I knew she wasn't going to let this go, she never does.

"Well...Itachi told me to come back," I muttered, avoiding her eyes. She scoffe.

"I knew it."

"Knew what?" I asked, she smirked, reminding me of a certain blond bomber.

"That he was gay of course." My jaw dropped.

"WHAT?" I shrieked. Katsumi smiled.

"Do you think I'm wrong?"

"Well...he did leave with sharky..." I muttered. Katsumi laughed.

"Exactly!" Just then the mental image of the two of them naked together flashed through my mind and I fought the urge to vomit.

"Ew! That is so wrong!...and yet, somehow appealing...must be my innner fangirl. Anyway, he can go be gay if he wants, but he missed out on ALL OF THIS!" I said gesturing to myself. I heard Yori giggled behind me.

"You must be pretty upset," she said giving me a sympathetic smile.

"What makes you say that?" I asked her.

"Well, the last time you said that someone missed out on 'all of this', was when that boy you had a crush on in middle school rejected you," she reminded me. I placed my finger on my lips trying to remember.

"Oh yeah! I remember that. She asked him out and he laughed and said he didn't want to date a crazy person and so she pushed him to the ground and started shrieking about everything he was missing out on," Katsumi said. Then I remembered...jeez compared to Itachi that boy was a troll.

"Guys!" Rika said running towards us. Sai followed behind her, his dark eyes watching her. I wondered what they were doing...alone...in the forest...away from other people...AH THE MENTAL IMAGES! Seriously brain, what is your problem today!?

"Hey Rika," Yori greeted. Our short friend smiled and I resisted the urge to go into my 'adorable' mode and attack her, knowing I would probably end up the victim of Rika's wrath.

"I need to talk to you guys, I found out something important," she told us. We all shared a look and then our eyes darted between Sai and Kiba.

"Should they be here?" Katsumi asked. Rika shrugged and Kiba growled, but calmed down when Yori took his hand in her's. It was so obviously how much they loved each other...BRAIN, STOP WITH THE IMAGES ALREADY!

"Well, I figure Kiba's going to follow Yori wherever and Sai has to stick close to us."

"Why?" I asked.

"Danzo ordered him to watch us and I'd rather he watch us where we can see him," she told us. We all nodded.

"So what happened?" Katsumi asked. Rika took a deep breath, it seemed like she was preparing herself.

"It was Lei, she was the reason we all gave up our lives in our first life." I felt my eyes grow to the size of a saucer.

"Lei? How could that be? I thought we all agreed to give up our lives," Yori protested.

"I know, but I had a flashback and Lei was No, the one having a relationship with the Sage. I had a sister and I know that if Joshiki were anything like me, she wouldn't just leave her sister on her own," Rika explained. We were all silent, turning this new information over in our heads. So it was all Lei, she was the reason for all of us dying way back in the past.

"So...what are we going to do?" Katsumi asked.

"I don't know, but we need to find Lei and make sure that history doesn't repeat itself. That power of influence makes her dangerous, we'll have to be careful to not look her in the eye," she warned.

"So we're going to treat Lei like an emery?" I asked in an incredulous tone. Rika nodded sadly. Katsumi sighed.

"I'll go tell Shikamaru, that way he doesn't have to worry about training me and he can do whatever he wants," she said, her eyes moving back to Shikamaru and the girl. Rika followed her gaze and sighed. Making sure Sai wasn't paying much attention she leaned forward and whispered to Katsumi.

"Don't worry, love sucks," she said. Katsumi looked at Sai and then giggled before walking over to Shikamaru.

It looked like we were going off on another journey. It was going to be weird traveling with someone other than Itachi for a change. I definitely missed him. I wondered what he was doing and then I shook my head before the image of him naked with Kisame could pop into my head again. I didn't think I could handle much more of that. I sighed, Rika was so right. Love did suck.

**A/N: Speaking of love, they are all right, it seriously sucks. Boys...they are just way to much trouble sometimes. I broke up this one guy who I dated for almost three years and then I found out that he flirted/cheated on me with about eight other girls. Needless to say, he's an ass. Anyone else have any sucky love stories? I'm curious.**


	29. Chapter 29:Katsumi

**A/N: Ah, so close to thirty chapters! How awesome is that? As for the question I asked the last chapter, I hate players, they make me sick and I'm all for the virgin for life club...if there is such a thing...wait, wait, I think it's called being a nun. Also, don't ever feel bad for your sexual orientation! EVER! No matter who you love boy/girl whatever, you are still a person!**** Now onward to Katsumi's chapter!**

**Chapter 29: Preparation**

_Katsumi_

"Hey Shikamaru, can I talk to you?" I asked. The glasses girl looked at me and blushed before moving away.

"Sure," he answered. I opened my mouth to speak, but then paused when I noticed that his leg was still broken. No matter how mad/upset I was, it still bothered me that he was hurt. Yori seemed to notice my discomfort because a moment after I thought that I felt her hand on my shoulder.

"Sorry to interupt, but do you mind if I help you out?" she asked Shikamaru. He shrugged.

"Go ahead," he said, with his usual carefree attitude. Yori smiled and moved forward, working her magic on his injury. For a moment, I wished my gift was something...not so scary, something more like Yori's or even Yumi's. My visions always took a toll on me and they were always bad, they made me feel worn out and tired and I hated it.

I wished I could do something that would actually help.

"There, you should be all good now," Yori told him with a smile. He nodded his thanks and Yori moved back towards Kiba and Mizuki. I kept my eyes locked on him, watching as he stood up and tested out his leg. Once he was sure it was ok, he looked at me.

"So what do you want to talk about?" he asked, yawning. I sighed.

"I'm leaving," I told him bluntly. His dark eyes popped for a second and then he just stared at me, making me feel more than a little uncomfortable. I expected him to just say something like 'ok' or even 'thank goodness I don't have to deal with her anymore,' but I didn't expect the staring. After a moment he subtly shook his head and then spoke.

"Where are you going?" Well, I didn't really expect that either.

"We're going to Suna, we need to find our friend Lei before something bad happens to her," I told him. He seemed to think something over for a second before responding.

"Ok, then I'll talk to the Hokage about going with you."

"What?" I asked, feeling my eyes pop. He smirked.

"None of you have enough training to go all the way to Suna, plus you are all targets of the Akatsuki," he reminded me.

"Yeah, but Sai and Kiba are coming," I told him. I neglected mentioning that we were probably going to pick up Yumi on the way. Rika had said we would need all of us for this, besides, I didn't really want to cause Shikamaru anymore trouble.

"Katsumi," he said, interrupting my thoughts. I raised my blue eyes to his. In that moment I realized that it wasn't just because I didn't want to trouble him, it was also because I didn't want my feelings for him to deepen. I knew that I had no chance with him and if he came with us it would just hurt worse when he finally rejected me.

"What?" I snapped without really meaning too. He raised an eyebrow at me.

"I'm not going to et you guys go alone."

"I already told you, we won't be alone, we're going with Sai and Kiba," I reminded him. He nodded.

"They are both strong shinobi, but you will need someone to lead you." This time it was my turn to raise an eyebrow.

"And you want to do it?" I asked. He nodded and I sighed, feeling defeated.

"Why? Why are you insisting on coming," I said, more to myself than him.

"Does it bother you?" he asked. I shook my head.

"Not really, I'm actually...kind of happy," I told him honestly. Shikamaru sighed and placed a hand on his forehead.

"Why are all women so troublesome?" I couldn't help it, I giggled. It was just too funny when he called something 'troublesome'.

"Maybe it has something to do with the fact that men are complicated," I commented. He gave me a small smile.

"Either way, I'm coming with you guys," he told me firmly. Great, now I would have to suffer in silence. At least Mizuki was with us, she always made me feel better about life. Speaking of...

"Kitty! What are you and Shika talking about?" Mizuki asked, hugging me from behind. I smiled, but Shikamaru grimaced.

"Shika?" he questioned. Mizuki nodded.

"If you're coming with us you'll need a nickname," she said brightly. Shikamaru sighed and muttered something about idiots being really troublesome before he started off into more or the destruction.

"I'm going to go talk to the Hokage," he said. I frowned as I watched him go. Again, I really didn't want him coming with us.

"Aw Kitty, you look sad," Mizuki said poking me in the face. I glared at her.

"Oh hush," I told her, walking over to Rika and Yori. Mizuki skipped along beside me, happily humming.

I was really glad Mizuki was back to normal. Ever since she had come back after leaving with Itachi, she had seemed really down and...un-Mizuki like. Seeing her skip around and be all happy was a relief. Both Rika and Yori noticed us at the same time and they looked at us, smiling.

"So what's the plan?" I asked. Kn owing Rika she had already worked out exactly what we were going to do.

"Well, first things, first, we need to find Yumi. I figure with Mizuki it shouldn't be too hard, as long as she doesn't keep using her speed and getting further and further away. Then we need to track down Lei. No matter what, we'll need to go to Suna after we get Yumi. Kankuro, Temari, and Gaara might know something if she isn't there and we need to know what we're dealing with."

"Shikamaru is coming with us," I interjected. Her violet eyes searched mine, probably looking for a reason, but she gave up after a moment.

"He could definitely be some help," she said with a small smile. I smiled back.

"So when are we leaving?" Yori asked.

"Most likely tomorrow, we'll need to leave as soon as possible," Rika told us. We all nodded.

"For now we should probably help out around here before getting some sleep," Mizuki said brightly. we all just stared at her.

"What?" she asked, placing her hands on her hips.

"That is probably the first time you've ever contributed," I said in an amazed tone. She just continued to glare, making all of us laugh.

**A/N: Phew, I feel like we're finally getting somewhere! Oh! And quick question, has anyone ever read/watched Higurashi? I freaking love it! It's so dark and eerie and if you haven't heard of it I recommend looking it up, right...now! Also, three more reviews and we'll hit a double chapter day! Woot! And P.S, I know Tsunade is out of commission after Pein's attack, but Shikamaru doesn't know that yet. ;)**


	30. Chapter 30: Yori

**A/N: So we are nearing the end of the story. I predict it will last for a little over fifty chapters so we still have some time yet, but we're still getting there. Now, remember, two more reviews, TWO, and it will be time for double chapters so please, please, please review!**

**Chapter 30: On the Road Again**

_Yori_

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Kiba asked me as I packed somethings into a backpack. I sighed and looked at him. His head was cocked to the side and he was giving me this worried look. He looked like a sad puppy. I smiled.

"I don't know about a 'good idea', but I do know that it's what we need to do. We need to find Yumi and then try and stop Lei before history repeats itself," I told him. I heard him growl behind me.

"If she tries anything like what she did in the past," he said through clenched teeth. I turned towards him and placed my hand on his cheek. He felt warm.

"Don't worry. Back then we didn't know what was going to happen and we didn't have anyone to protect us," I reminded him. He sighed and started pacing...again.

We were all supposed to meet at the village gates this morning to leave. When Shikamaru had found out what had happened to Tsunade, he had made the decision that we were just going to have to leave, even though we all felt guilty, leaving while the village wa in shambles, but we needed to go as soon as possible. I zipped up my back and slung it over my shoulder. I gave Kiba a look before leaving the room. He and Akamaru followed after her, though she could still feel his frustration.

"Hey, what took you so long?"Katsumi greeted us as we reached the gate. I smiled at her. She seemed a little on edge, probably because it looked like Shikamaru was giving her the cold shoulder. My heart went out to her, she really cared for him and he seemed...uninterested. I couldn't really imagine what that must feel like for her.

"Just making sure we had everything," I told her.

"Great, now we just have to wait for Mizuki...no surprise there," Rika said, muttering the last part. She had been hanging back in the shadows, talking with Sai about something, but had now moved up to stand Next to Katsumi. I watched Sai whisper something to Shikamaru and wondered what was going on. I wondered it there wa something Rika wasn't telling us.

"Present," we heard Mizuki's voice say. We looked around, but we couldn't see her anywhere.

"Mizuki? Where are you?" Katsumi asked. We heard her giggle.

"Up here!" she called. We all looked up to see Mizuki hanging upside down from a tree branch above us. I sighed and smiled warmly at her. It felt good to have her back with us, but something about her had been bothering me. It was like even though she was smiling, she was sad.

"Will you get down here! We need to go!" Rika snapped. Mizuki straightened her legs and started falling head first towards the ground. All of us tensed, fearing that she may hurt herself, but at the last minute, her body twisted around and she landed perfectly on her feet. All of our jaws dropped.

"How did you do that?" Katsumi asked, echoing all of our thoughts. Mizuki smiled.

"I picked up more than I thoguht when I was traveling with Itachi," she said, her face falling a bit when she said his name. A moment later she just looked confused as she stared at us.

"Is something wrong?" I asked her. She stared at us, her face growing more and more confused the longer she looked.

"I see...colors, it's like there are colors surrounding you. It's really...weird..." she told us. We all looked at each other.

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" Rika asked her, raising an eyebrow. She shook her head.

"No...I can really see colors and I can...feel them. Yori's colors are different shades of blue and they make me feel...calmer. Rika's colors look...irritated and Katsumi, your's just look sad," she told us. An idea hit me.

"Do you think she's seeing auras?" I asked. Rika looked confused.

"Auras?"

"Yeah, they're the natural energy surrounding all living and non-living things. They are typically effected by emotions," I explained. It was well known that I knew a lot about new age stuff, it was just something I had dabbled in before we came to this world. Rika nodded in understanding.

"Do you think our powers are developing?" she asked. We all shrugged.

"They might, but I haven't noticed anything different about my visions," Katsumi told her.

"Maybe it'll just take some more time to manifest," Rika said. A sudden whistle caught all of our attention and we turned towards the gate where Shikamaru, Kiba, Akamaru, and Sai were waiting for us.

"Are we going or not?" Shikamaru asked. We shared a look and then set off towards the gate. Shikamaru was right, we needed to leave as soon as possible. we need to find my sister. We would deal with the development of our powers later.

As we crossed over the gate I felt an odd sense of melancholy. It was strange leaving the village after being there so so long. This would be the first time I had left since the death of Asuma, something I still regret. I wondered if Shikamaru blamed me. I shook my head, now was not the time to be thinking dark thoughts. Shikamaru was leading us, with Rika and Kiba close behind. With Rika's advanced hearing and Kiba's nose, there was little chance of someone sneaking up on us.

Katsumi was in the middle, something we decided on in case we were attacked and she had a vision. We would need to protect her if that were the case. I stood behind her. As a healer, I needed to be protected as well. I had become better at avoiding attacks, but I was barely at a chunin level and was not strong enough to face certain opponents. Behind all of us was Mizuki, Sai, and Akamaru. Mizuki was to make sure no chakra signature were approaching while giving us directions to find Yumi. Sai and Akamaru wer just supposed to watch all of our backs.

For a moment, I dropped back next to Mizuki. I was still concerned about her and I wanted to make sure she was alright. She seemed to notice and met me halfway. Her bright green eyes had lost some of their light and she looked...less bright in general. It was sad to see.

"How are you doing?" I asked her. She shrugged and gave me a half hearted smile.

"I miss him," she told me. I nodded, I knew it had something to do with Itachi.

"What happened?" I asked. I knew that the others had asked her the same thing, but she hadn't answered them. I hoped that maybe this time would be different. Mizuki sighed, her smile falling.

"He told me to go back to make sure that you were alright. When I told him no...he said he didn't love me," she said, muttering the last part. My heart reached out to her. No woder she had seemed so out of sorts. We all knew how much Mizuki cared for Itachi.

"Mizuki...I'm sure he didn't..." I started. What was I sure of? I didn't know anything about their relationship, but I did notice the look in his eyes when Mizuki came back to free him. I knew that he had lied. He cared for her.

"I don't know what he was thinking, but I know that he didn't mean it," I told her honestly. Mizuki looked at me, her green eyes were bright with unshed tears.

"You really think so?" she asked me. I smiled.

"I know it, you'll see him again, I know it."


	31. Chapter 31: Yumi

**A/N: Ok, I couldn't help it, I had to post this. It seems a little rushed, I know, but thus is the life of Yumi. She moves at a faster pace than anyone. =P Anywho, I was on a writing spree and I just needed to post it! I hope everyone likes it and please review, I'll still do a double chapter when I reach 100 reviews...only that will be on Sunday. **

**Chapter 31: Reunited and It Feels So Good**

_Yumi_

"So where are we going now?" I asked Deidara as we walked on. She looked back and gave me a smirk.

"We're going after Itachi, I want to prove to show him the beauty of my art, yeah," he told me. I rolled my eyes.

"Great so we're tracking him down to fight, that's just what we need," I mumbled. He didn't show any sign that he had heard me, not that I cared. It had been some time now since we left the others back in the village. I already missed them all, but there was nothing I could do. As long as I wanted to hang around with Deidara I couldn't be with my friends, a thought that broke my heart, though I wouldn't dare admit it out loud.

"So how far do you think we'll have to go?" I asked him. Once again he turned and smirked at me, making me frown. Almost every time he smirked, something bad happened.

"Not too much further. Thanks to your speed we are very close, hm," he told me. Great so when he died, I would be responsible for bringing him here. In that moment I knew I was going to have to do something to stop this before either one of them got hurt, though I got the feeling Itachi wouldn't be the problem.

I wasn't sure how much further we walked, but it wasn't long before familiar voices reached our ears. It was the voices of Kisame and Itachi. I listened closely, trying to hear if Mizuki was still with them, but I only heard the two voices. Deidara's eyes seemed to grow more wide and excited the closer we got, making me even more nervous. He was seriously an idiot if he thought he could beat Itachi.

"Deidara, we know you are there," Kisame growled. I froze. So this was it, the moment. I wondered what I could possibly do to avoid this fight, but then I remembered Mizuki. She had saved Itachi from Sasuke and changed the history of this world. This was my chance to change things. he fight with Sasuke had been avoided, but that did not mean we were out of the woods yet. Deidara still longed to take out Itachi.

I wondered if I could be fast enough to stop it. As Deidara moved out into the open, I stayed put, something he didn't notice, and closed my eyes. I needed to build up my energy before the fight started so if it looked like Deidara was going to get hurt I could jump in and save him without getting hurt myself. I heard the sound of the fight starting with small explosions and tried to focus myself.

Soon I felt something strange, it was like my body was on vibrate. A little nervous, I opened my eyes, but I looked completely normal. The sounds of the battle had stopped, making me nervous. I pushed through the trees and emerged into the clearing. Itachi was standing, his sharingan activated and Deidara had his hand closed around some clay, shaping it into something deadly. Kisame was just leaning on a tree, smiling, watching. But there was something strange about them.

They were completely still.

"Deidara?" I called, moving closer to him. I waved my hand in front of his face, but I got no reaction, not even a blink. Then I moved over to Itachi and did the same. Again I got nothing.

"What's going on?" I muttered to myself. I stood there, thinking for a moment. It was almost like someone had stopped time, which was impossible of course, but everything was so still and quiet. I stared at Deidara, willing him to move, but nothing happened. I don't know how long I was standing there waiting for something, but after some time I began noticing small changes. Deidara's hand had moved slightly and his eyelids were lower than before. That was when I understood what had happened.

Time wasn't frozen, I was just moving so fast tat everything around me appeared frozen.

I was unable to stop the smile from spreading across my face. This was just too cool. I wondered how I could slow myself back down again. I closed my eyes and tried to focus again. After a moment sound began returning.

"-cocky bastard, yeah!" I heard Deidara snap. I opened my eyes and...oh no. Coming right towards me was one of his creations, one I knew exploded on impact.

"Shit," I muttered. Right before it would have hit me, I dodged it, letting it hit the tree behind me.

"Yumi? What the hell, hm?" Deidara snapped, bringing my attention back to him. I glared at him.

"You need to stop fighting," I told him. He smirked, seeming to recover from my sudden appearance in front of him.

"You should move Yumi, yeah," he told me. His voice implied that I would get hurt if I didn't. I just crossed my arms. I kept my eyes open this time, as I focused and before i knew it, my body began to vibrate. Deidara opened his mouth to say more, but then he began to slow, to the point where he stopped completely. Seriously, this power was awesome. Screw, healing, I could become invisible.

I moved over to Deidara and grabbed a hold of his wrist. I smirked. This would show him to boss me around. Refocusing, I slowed myself down until everything was back to normal.

"You will not fight," I told him. Needless to say he was surprised to see how fast I moved. To him, it probably looked like I had teleported here in an instant.

"The girl is fast," I heard Kisame chuckle.

"You are one of Mizuki's friends," I heard Itachi say. I released Deidara's wrist and crossed my arms.

"Yes, and I see she's not here. What did you do?" I snarled. I knew that nothing would keep Mizuki from Itachi so the fact that she wasn't here made me nervous. Itachi's eyes moved away from me, but I caught the guilt. My body vibrated and in less than a second I was in front of him. It was getting easier to switch back and forth between speeds, making me even faster.

"What. Did. You. Do?" I asked him, slowly.

"Yumi!" I froze and slowly turned. No way, there was no way they were here, and yet, there they all were.

"Mizuki?" I heard Itachi breath. The green eyed girl didn't look at him, but I knew she was aware of him. I felt myself vibrate and the next thing they knew, I was in front of them. The gasped collectively, making me smile.

"I learned a new skill," I told them smugly. Rika chuckled and Katsumi started bouncing in excitement.

"That is so cool!" she said. I smiled at her.

"What are you guys doing here?"

"And why is it every time I try to fight Itachi you all butt in, yeah," Deidara muttered. We all ignored him, too focused on each other. In a rush, Rika told me the truth, about Lei, about everything. All sorts of emotions welled up inside of me, but we didn't have time to dwell, we needed to find Lei. I turned towards Deidara.

I would have to leave him.

"Do you guys mind?" I asked my friends. They all wished me luck and moved back into the trees, all expect Mizuki, who hadn't said a word, she was too focused on Itachi.

"Mizuki?" I questioned, trying to bring her back to earth. She looked over at me, as though surprised to see me.

"Talk to him," I told her. She looked back at him and then resolved hardened in her eyes. Without hesitating, she moved towards him, leaving me with Deidara. I stared at him for a moment. He looked annoyed about being cheated out of a fight...again. I sighed.

"I guess I'm not going to see you again, huh?" I said awkwardly. he scoffed.

"What are you talking about, hm?" he asked me. I raised an eyebrow.

"Did you not see who was with my friends? Leaf ninja, and we both know that they aren't too fond of you," I reminded him. He glared at me.

"I don't care, yeah," he told me. Ok, so he was officially an idiot.

"Are you kidding, they'll kill you!" I snapped. He smirked at me, only infuriating me more.

"I'm going with you, you're mine, yeah." My jaw dropped. I was not a possession, I was a person and the fact that he was treating me like I was something inanimate, was really pissing me off.

"Excuse me?" I asked. He just kept smirking, looking way to attractive for his own good. I did my best to try and keep looking pissed, but it was getting difficult. He kept moving closer to me until we were almost nose to nose. His pale blue eyes were cocky and slightly crazed, but there was something underneath. Something that was making it harder for me to breathe.

"You are mine, yeah," he repeated and before I could say anything more he leaned forward and kissed me. To say I was shocked would be a major understatement. His lips were warm and commanding and within a second, I felt myself returning the kiss. A soft sound escaped my lips and he took advantage. He pushed me back, until I was up against a tree, his arms on either side of me, trapping me in his embrace.

We were both breathing hard we he finally released me. I stared at him, right into his pale eyes and for a moment I saw a flash of tenderness, then it was gone, replaced by his usual cocky demeanor. I tried my best to look like that kiss didn't make my knees weak, but it was a lot harder than I thought.

"That wasn't fair," I breathed. He just smirked and backed away. For a moment I was struck by the lack of his warmth, but then I recovered, trying to look like my usual self.

"I'm coming with you, hm," he told me and that was end of that conversation. He left me then, leaving me alone. So many emotions were swirling around in my heart, but one in particular stood out. I was...happy.


	32. Chapter 32: Rika

**A/N: Ok, again, writing spree, had to post. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 32: Scary**

_Rika_

"Mizuki," I heard Itachi say. I didn't mean to be eavesdropping, but with my advanced hearing, I couldn't help it. Normally I would tune out, but I was afraid of being attacked if I did. I knew Deidara wouldn't do anything to hurt us, he had made that clear in his conversation with Yumi, but I wasn't so sure about Kisame. His presence was unexpected and I knew from the anime, that he was trouble.

"Did you mean what you said?" I heard Mizuki ask. Her voice sounded different. Sad and more...adult. It was strange.

"Rika, are we going to leave soon?" Katsumi asked, placing a hand on my shoulder. I smiled at her.

"I'm not sure. Apparently Deidara is coming with us now, so we should probably make sure no fights will break out and Mizuki is still talking to Itachi," I told her. Katsumi gave me a look.

"You really shouldn't listen to other people's conversations," she advised me. I rolled my eyes.

"As if I can help it," I told her. I moved past her and walked over to Sai. He had agreed to feed false information to Danzo, and offense that could get him killed in the long run, and had been sending daily updates to him. We decided not to tell the others about the updates, I wasn't sure if they all trusted Sai or not. As much as I tried to deny it sometimes, I cared for the idiot and I didn't want him to get hurt.

The only other one who knew about the updates was Shikamaru.

"What did you tell him today?" I asked him. He looked up at me, his dark eyes giving nothing away. I had come to trust those eyes.

Since that day when I heard overheard him agree to watch us, I had tried to be more cautious around him, but my mind kept going back to what he had told me. He had promised, he wouldn't betray me and oddly enough I trusted him. Sai may have seemed emotionless, but he wasn't and I could tell that he cared about me. Because of this, I knew I could trust him.

"I told him you are on your way to Suna to visit Lei," he told me. I nodded. We had both agreed that it sounded the most believable and technically it wasn't a lie. He just left out what we were going to do when we found Lei.

I thought about who I was before, Joshiki. She had a life, she had a sister and No had taken that all away from her. I wondered if I would ever be able to forgive her for that, for taking away my life, making me be reborn over and over again. How many lives did I live before this one? And all for what? For the Sage? It had been my life, my life to give if I chose too, but she had forced me. Dying was not my choice.

"Rika?" Sai's voice asked, shaking me out of my thoughts. I looked at him and smiled. I really cared for him...a lot. I was just beginning to realize how much.

"Sorry," I told him. He may have seemed normal to anyone else, but I could see that he was worried about me. I had been straining myself. Using my hearing drained my energy, though it was a lot slower that if I was using chakra. Not only that, but I hadn't been sleeping well. Nightmares about my life as Joshiki kept me up at night. I kept seeing Kasumi's face as she begged me to stay with her.

Every night I would wake up crying and I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep.

"You need to rest," he told me. I waved him away. We had only been traveling for a day and we were no where near Suna. We needed to get moving so we could find Lei.

"We need to get moving," I muttered bitterly. Sai placed a hand on my shoulder, in an attempt to comfort me.

"You haven't been sleeping," he told me. I looked up at him, slightly shocked. I didn't think he knew about my sleep issues.

"Yes I have," I lied. He stared me down with those eyes of his.

"I've seen you sitting by yourself at night and I've heard you when you have had your nightmares," he told me. I flinched and turned away from him. I heard him digging around in his pack for something and then I felt his hand again on my shoulder. One of his fingers, a finger that wasn't covered my his glove, brushed the bare skin around my neck and I felt myself shudder. His fingers were warm.

I turned around to see that he was holding out another drawing. Slowly, I reached for it. It was another picture of me only instead of a being of light, I was dark. I was sitting in a tree, staring up at the moon, something I did the first night we had left after I had woken up from my nightmare. My violet eyes had tears in them and were glowing in the moonlight. I looked unearthly, and yet, unlike in the other drawings, strangely human. I lifted my eyes to Sai.

"You saw me?" I asked him. He just nodded. I looked back down at the drawing and brushed my fingers aong my eyes, where the tears were. The fact that he had seen me at one of my weakest moments should have bothered me, but for some reason, it didn't.

I felt...warm. That was when everything hit me. It was like I had been slapped across the face. I loved him. I loved Sai. Sai the idiot who took friendship advice from books. Sai the artist with a fake smile. Who knew how he really felt about anything? So why did I love him? The answer was simple. he saw me for everything I was, light and dark. In every drawing of me he drew I could see parts of myself reflected. Some parts I never showed anyone. He understood me, more than anyone else I had ever met.

Before I could stop myself, I felt the tears fall from my eyes.

"Rika? Rika, why are you crying?" Sai asked me. I couldn't answer, I just slowly lower myself to the ground. What was I doing here? I wanted to go home where things made sense and Lei was my best friend. I didn't want to fall in love. It was just too scary.

"Please, please," I begged. I wished I could go back to how everything was. When we used to go to school and eat lunch together and complain about teachers while Mizuki kept getting us into trouble and Lei and I would have to talk our way out of it. When Yori was so young and innocent and Yumi was our rock and Katsumi was always getting upset over small things and growing mushrooms in corners. Back when I had no chance of falling in love and risking being hurt.

I wished for it with all my heart, but when I opened my eyes, Sai was still in front of me and for a moment I hated myself because when I saw him. I was happy.


	33. Chapter 33: Lei

**A/N: So even though I posted three chapters on Wednesday, I'm going to do double chapter today! Whoo! The next chapter will be Kiba's feature chapter so be excited! I know I am. In other news I'm planning on starting another Naruto story. I started a Black Bird fanfic and I love the character I'm using so much that I want to use her in a Naruto fic. I might even try to write an Inuyasha fic. I just feel like writing. Now onto Lei's chapter.**

**Chapter 33: Development**

_Lei_

"Lei," a deep voice called. Gaara sounded different today, harsher. I felt irritated, why couldn't he just leave me alone? I opened my eyes. It was Madara, of course. I smiled and sat up. I was no longer in Suna, I had left. I was now with Madara in a secret hideout that not even I knew the location of.

I remembered leaving the village with Madara the day before. He had covered my eyes and a moment later we were here, in the hideout. He had let me explore a little while he left to take care of some 'business'. I wandered around for a while, only to realize that the entire hideout was empty, I was the only one there. Once I figured that out, I found a room with a bed and fell asleep.

"Madara," I greeted, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. I then turned my gaze towards him. I still didn't trust him. Though I had agreed to help his cause, I was doing all of this for myself. My friends had abandoned me, they didn't care for me, they didn't even acknowledge me. Because of that, I would use my Influence on them, just like No had all those years ago.

"It is time for you to train," Madara told me, bringing me out of my thoughts. I looked at him. He wasn't wearing his mask, but his face was covered in shadow. It didn't matter though, I knew the truth about who he was. I didn't need to see his face to know that. I sighed and stood, tilting my chin up a fraction, just to give myself the appearance of being tougher than I really was.

The truth of the matter was I had barely any training. Gaara had tried training me once, but that was all the training I had gotten, not that I wanted Madara to know this. For a moment, I allowed myself to think about Gaara. A strange feeling welled up inside of me, one I was only slightly familiar with. I missed him, which was stupid because what had he done for me?

He called me a murderer.

"What are we going to start with?" I asked him as he stood and moved towards the exit of the room. I followed after him, interested to see where we were going. In some small part of my mind, I knew I should be afraid of him, but I wasn't. If I needed to I would use my Influence on him. My power was my safety net and I was willing to use it.

"I have made a discovery. Your powers have not been fully realized yet, you may be able to control people now, but that is not all you are able to do,"  
he told me. I cocked my head to the side, interested.

"What else can I do?" He didn't answer, telling me that he had no idea what else I could do. I followed him through the tunnels until we finally came upon a large open space, lit by candles. Shadows were dancing on the walls, making the empty room look full. It was shaped like a giant dome, the perfect room for training. Madara moved to lean against the wall while I moved into the center of the room, unable to keep the smile from my face.

It felt like I had been smiling more these days.

"So how am I going to practice?" I asked him. He didn't answer, he just gestured with his hand and then the room started to move. The walls, they were coming alive, the shadows became something corporal, touchable. They were Zetsu clones.

"I want you to use your Influence on them. Try using it on more than one, try anything," he told me simply. Then, before I could really say anything, he was gone and the Zetsu's began to move towards me.

"Shit," I muttered. I thought they would stay where they were, but they were coming to get me.

Suddenly, everything Gaara had taught me came flooding back. I may have only trained with him for a day, but he had taught me basic taijutsu, something I picked up on pretty quickly. Before any of the Zetsu's could touch me I launched into action and moved to hit the first Zetsu. I grabbed the first one by the neck and found his pressure point. He collapsed when I squeezed and then I used as much muscle as I could muster and threw him at the next Zetsu.

I felt a hand grab my shoulder and I turned, feeling my power rise up.

"Kill them all," I snarled at the one who had touched me. His eyes flashed red briefly and then he let go, turning back towards the other Zetsu's and began tearing them apart. I smiled again. This power was really helpful. I turned towards the next one, letting my power build up again.

"You, kill yourself," I told it. It complied by reached up and grabbing it's head. In one sharp turn, he snapped his own neck and collapsed. I stared at his body for a moment and for some strange reason, I felt like laughing. I looked back up and tried it on multiple Zetsu's. I managed to command three of them to kill themselves.

Feeling a little more confident I kept using my power, moving through the throng, leaving only dead bodies in my wake. I felt...different, powerful. Nothing could stop me. OUt of the corner of my eye I saw another Zetsu moving towards me. instinctively, I raised my arm.

"Die," I hissed. Something happened then. It was like a burst of power moved through my arm and out the finger I had pointed at the Zetsu. It stopped and it's eyes flashed red, then it just dropped to the ground. Dead.

I looked at my hand, wondering how I could do that, then I realized. I didn't care. It was just another weapon for me to use against all of those who had harmed me. No one could treat me like I was useless anymore. I had power and if I wanted to, I could kill anyone at anytime. It was thrilling just to think about. I looked around me, at all the carnage I had caused.

I had power now.

And no one was ever going to treat me like someone who's unneeded ever again.


	34. Chapter 34: Kiba

**A/N: Sorry if the last chapter was a little dark, I really wanted to show Lei's descent into madness. Like I said before, things are going to start picking up very soon. Also, I would like to say thank you to everyone who is sticking with me. I noticed a couple of my usual readers haven't been reviewing and it makes me a little sad, so I just wanted to thank the ones who are still with me. Now, onto Kiba's feature chapter.**

**Chapter 34: Worry**

_Kiba_

"Akamaru, do you know where Yori went?" I asked my partner. We still hadn't left the area we found Yumi and the Akatsuki and I was starting to feel on edge. I didn't trust the Akatsuki and not having Yori around was putting me even more on edge.

For a moment I thought about Yoir. Her smile, her eyes. I remembered the first day I had found her and tackled her, thinking she was someone trying to sneak into the village. Her eyes had been so calm, it almost felt like she was looking through me. It didn't help that the color was so...unique. They were such a soft shade of pink, like the petals of a rose. I could tell from the moment I saw her that she wasn't a threat.

I growled softly. Yori was turning me into a softy. Ever since she'd shown up I had felt myself turning into my father, being controlled by a woman, not that Yori was anything like my mother. She was the exact opposite. My mother was vicious warrior and Yori...she was a soft girl, she couldn't even fight, it wasn't in her nature. She was a protector, a healer, and she was making me feel weak.

But I loved her.

"Kiba?" I heard her soft voice called out. Akamaru whined and wagged his tail, he liked Yori just as much as I did. She didn't treat him like a dog, she treated him like a ninja, as my partner. Another reason why I loved her.

"I'm here," I told her. She emerged through the trees, her white hair looking a little muffed up, with leaves dangling from it. For a moment,I wondered what she had been doing, but then I just let it go. I was just glad she was alright.

"I don't know how much longer we're going to be here, but it's starting to look like we might have to stay here for the night," she told me. I growled in frustration.

"Why are we even hanging around here anyway? We have your sister," I reminded her. She nodded and then looked over at her friend Katsumi, who was standing a little aways from us, next to Shikamaru. I snorted. I saw the way he looked at her, he may think he was hiding it, but he had feelings for that girl. She looked away from him, frustration showing on her face. She liked him too.

"Yumi wants Deidara to come with us and Mizuki is still working some things out with Itachi," she told me. I scoffed.

"Are we really going to trust the Akatsuki?" I asked her. She sighed.

"I know Yumi well enough to know that no matter how strongly she feels for Deidara, she will always put me first. It's in her nature, so if he tries to come after us, she'll stop him."

"How?" I asked.

"You forget she now has the ability to move faster than anyone can even see. She told me that it was like time stopped and she could move freely while everyone else was still, if he, or Itachi, try anything she'll move fast enough to stop it," she reminded me. I nodded. She was right. Yumi was fast and because she was Yori's sister, I trusted her.

"I still think we shouldn't trust them." She smiled at me.

"I know, but there was a time when you didn't trust me either," she reminded me. I had to smile at that. She was right, when I first met her I didn't trust her, but I knew from the moment I met her I wanted to protect her.

It was just something about her, something so innocent and soft.

It didn't take me long to learn that she wasn't as innocent as she appeared. She knew things, things that no one else would expect from her. It was like she could feel other people's emotions, something that unnerved me. Next to me, Akamaru whimpered and I looked at him.

"What is it?" I asked him. He looked up at me, his eyes telling me that something was off. Yori cocked her head to the side.

"Does he smell Kisame?" she asked me quietly. I looked at her.

"The shark guy?" I asked. She nodded.

"He was here earlier, but once we appeared he vanished. I don't know where he went, but for all we know, he might be close by," she told me. I growled. If he tried anything I would tear him to shreds. I had already lost Yori once and it was a feeling I did not want to relive.

"Are you alright?" she asked me in her soft voice. I turned towards her, struck once again by those eyes.

"I'm fine," I told her. She cocked her head to the side, her eyes analyzing me. A moment later she looked away, apparently satisfied that nothing was wrong.

"Yori, we're going to need to start setting up for the night, ok?" Katsumi said coming over to her. She nodded and looked at me. The first night we had camped out, she had started curled up in a cot next to me, but I woke up to the feeling of her shivering. I ended up pulled her over to me, letting her use me as a pillow. Akamaru had even curled around the both of us keeping us warm.

When we had woken up the next morning things had been a little awkward. I wondered if she was thinking about it.

"Thanks Katsumi," Yori told her. The silver haired girl nodded and walked back over to Shikamaru. Yori set her pack down and started setting up her cot. Once she was done she looked up at me and smiled.

"Do you want to share with me again?" she asked, shocking me.

"Sure," was all that came out of my mouth. She smiled again and took off her shoes before crawling under the blanket. For a moment I hesitated then I crawled in next to her. Almost immediately, she curled up next to me, pressing her body to mine. She smelled like roses.

She fell asleep almost instantly, but I stayed awake, holding on to her. I wasn't going to let anything hurt her. Not again.


	35. Chapter 35: Mizuki

**A/N: I am so sorry it took me so long to update and because of the wait, I'm going to post an extra chapter tomorrow along with the usual chapter. My computer screen cracked and I wasn't able to get anything done because I couldn't see, but my Dad figured out how to hook it up to a different moniter so I can see so go Dad! Now, onto the chapter.**

**Chapter 35: Coming Along**

_Mizuki_

"Mizuki," Itachi said as I drew closer to him. I cocked my head to the side and crossed my arms.

"Did you mean what you said?" I asked him. For a moment I was kind of surprised at how I sounded, then I just shook my head. Come on Mizuki, pull it together!

Itachi had really hurt my feelings and I still wasn't completely over that, but I needed to know the truth. Did he care about me or was he just a jerk like Katsumi said. I sighed, this was all so confusing and not at all how it was supposed to go.I was supposed to save Itachi and then he would be able to leave the Akatsuki. He wouldn't have to hurt anyone anymore and...

And then we could be friends and maybe...just maybe, he would actually start to care about me the way I care for him.

"Yes," he told me. I felt a sharp pain in my chest, like my heart was stabbed by a needle. Then I realized something. Itachi was lying. He was lying to me. There was no way he could be so hurtful. He was gentle, not evil. I'd known that ever since I first saw him.

"You're lying to me," I told him. His eyes widened slightly, but other than that he had shown no reaction, not that I expected anything more.

"Cleaver little brat, isn't she," a familiar voice said from off to the side. I glanced over and groaned. Of course, it was him. Stupid Jaws...couldn't he just go away. Far away. That way i wouldn't have to look at his sharky grin. You know that's another word I really like, gggrriiiinnnn- wait, focus brain! Time to be serious!

"Can't you go find a boat to chew to pieces?" I asked him. He growled at me.

"Quiet little girl," he said. I scoffed.

"Please, I don't fear sharks. Sharks fear me!" I declared. Kisame opened his mouth, probably to yell at me even more, but then Itachi stopped him.

"Kisame, go on without me," he told the shark. Kisame grinned and looked at me before starting off back into the trees.

"I'll be waiting, Itachi." something about his tone caught my attention. It was like he was threatening Itachi. That didn't make sense though, Itachi could squash him like a bug. At least I think he could.

"So, are you going to tell me why you lied?" I asked him,trying to copy Rika's 'you'd better tell me' face, and yes, she has a 'you'd better tell me,' face. She uses it on Yumi all the time when she gets into trouble. Itachi was silent. I sighed and moved closer to him.

"You know, we've played this game before and I always win. I have the power of annoyance on my side!" Just for good measure, I began to poke him, just to prove my point.

"Your friend needed you," he told me. I cocked my head to the side. Was he talking about Yori?

"No she didn't," I told him.

"You said you couldn't sense her anymore. Was she hurt?" he asked me quietly. I shook my head.

"She's fine now, but I knew she would be alright," I told him. Being the Naruto obsessed girl that I am, I knew that it was Pein attacking the village and I also knew that he gave up his life to restore everyone he had killed, meaning that if Yori were hurt, she would be ok in the long run.

Itachi gave me a confused look, making me remember that he didn't know that. Way to screw up Mizuki...

"You needed to go back," he repeated. I sighed.

"But I wanted to stay with you!" I told him. He stared at me for a moment.

"Why?" I felt my face flush.

"I've told you before..." I reminded him, remembering when I had first told him how I felt. It had been so embarrassing I ran away.

"But why?" he asked in his voice sounded different. It was...genuine confusion. It was like he didn't understand how I could care for him.

"Itachi, you don't seem to get how amazing you are. You're so strong, but you're also gentle and...and..." I sighed. I wasn't sure how to explain how I saw Itachi, but I wanted him to understand that I didn't want to be away from him.

"I...I want you to come with us. We need to find Lei, something's happened and she might be in trouble, that's why we came for Yumi. We'll need all the help we can get and if you don't come with us, then I'm just going to have to stalk you again and I don't think you liked that very much," I told him with a hopeful smile.

He stared at me. his eyes were so dark. I loved his eyes, not the sharingan eyes, because those were kind of creepy, but his real eyes, even though they were kind of emotionless. Though it was is impassive personality that made him fun to mess with.

"Mizuki, you know that as a part of the Akatsuki my mission is to hunt you and your friends down and bring you back to the base?" he asked me. I nodded.

"And you still trust me?" he asked, almost challenging me.

"Of course." He let out a small sigh and then reached forward and poked me in the forehead, like he used to poke Sasuke.

"I'll go with you then," he told me. I'm almost positive that if I smiled any harder my face would have split in half. Before I could really think about what I was doing, I reached forward and grabbed his hand and yanked him through the trees to where my friends were starting to camp out.

Katsumi, Rika, Sai, Yumi, and Shikamaru all looked over at me. Yori and Kiba were already asleep, curled up together in a cot. It was actually a pretty cute sight, but anyway, back on track.

"Mizuki! You're back!" Katsumi said jumping up and coming over to hug me. I hugged her back. Sometimes I forgot how much I missed her and the others while I was with Itachi, but every time I saw them I was reminded of how much I loved them.

"Yeah, and Itachi is coming with us," I told her.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Shikamaru said. I looked over at him. I could tell he was already on his guard, but Katsumi shifted to his side and placed a careful hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, if something bad is going to happen, I'll see it and we'll be prepared," she reminded him.

"She has a point, but I'm more worried about Deidara being so close to him. Knowing him he'll probably attack him before we can make it to Suna," Yumi said.I looked around.

"Speaking of Deidara, where is he?" I asked. Yumi shrugged.

"Wandering around I guess," she said. Her cheeks flushed a little bit, telling me there was something she wasn't sharing. Activate annoying Mizuki mode! Wait...wait...I don't have to energy. After all the walking we had done and the fact that I hadn't been getting much sleep, I was exhausted, meaning no annoying Mizuki tonight. I'd just have to save it for tomorrow.

"Well if we're done, we should probably get some rest so we can leave in the morning," Shikamaru said. We all nodded and started setting up. As I curled up in my cot, Itachi leaned against a tree next to me. As I drifted off to sleep I felt his hand touch my head and gently brush some of my curls off my face.


	36. Chapter 36: Katsumi

**A/N: Alright so this is the first of the two chapters I'm posting today. Also I've been thinking about songs that fit all of the characters and their relationships. I have some ideas, but I was wondering if any of you readers had any ideas. Besides, I'm also trying to find some new music to listen to. Now onto Katsumi's chapter! **

**Chapter 36: Serious Talk  
**

_Katsumi_

The next morning I was the first one awake, not that it really surprised me. I wasn't able to get much sleep, I was too busy thinking about everything. It was still hard for me to think of Lei as someone capable of killing us, but I needed to get used to it. It also felt strange having Itachi, Deidara, Kiba, Sai, and Shikamaru coming along with us.

Normally my friends and I did everything together, but now we were down one and had gained...boys. Granted I was pretty happy Shikamaru agreed to come with us. I didn't like the idea of being away from him. Now if only I could be the kind of girl he was looking for.

Yori was lucky, her and Kiba got along great...

"You know it's still dark, right?" I jumped, making a small noise of surprise. It was Rika, of course. She had been having trouble sleeping too and she was usually up before me or soon after me. I smiled at her.

"You scared me," I told her. She raised an eyebrow, her violet eyes amused. She crawled out of her cot and moved over to sit next to me to watch the sun come up. For a moment we were both silent, but then Rika broke the silence.

"How are we going to do this?" she whispered. I looked at her. I had never really seen Rika vulnerable before, but in that moment she was. For once she looked her size. She looked...small.

"I have no idea. I never thought Lei would do something like this," I told her. She sighed.

"Yeah, it's really hard to believe. She's always been our rock, our leader. Mizuki may have brought us all together, but she was a part of this group too and without her things feel...weird." I nodded.

"Yeah, it's like when Mizuki first left. Can you believe we've been here for so long? I wonder if our parents miss us," I said, thinking about it for the first time.

"I'm sure they do. I wonder if we're going to go back after this is all over." I looked at her, surprised.

"What? How could we? We have so much here, this is...it's our home, can't you feel it?" I asked her. She nodded.

"I do, but as long as we're here, we're putting everyone at risk. We are the key to created at new jinchuriki for the ten-tails and if someone like Madara got a hold of that kind of power...we would be dooming this entire world. Not to mention we would be killed. I'm starting to think that after we get Lei back we'll have no choice, but to go home." I opened my mouth to tell her that we did have a choice, but then I caught sight of Shikamaru and the other members of this world.

It was no secret that we cared for them and our being here was putting them at risk and if we stayed we may be the ones to lead to them being killed. Like Kiba, what if someone came after Yori to use her as a Piece and killed him to get to her? She would be heart broken. Rika was right, we couldn't risk it.

"You're right, but we still have no idea how to get back," I reminded her. She shrugged.

"Well we've been pursued by the Akatsuki, broke an S-ranked criminal out of an interrogation room, saved someone meant to die, made it through Pein's attack, and traveled all the way here, I'm sure we can find a way home," she told me with a droll stare. I had to admit she made a good point.

"You're both awake." Rika and I turned around to see Shikamaru sitting up. I smiled at him, feeling that familiar ping in my heart when I looked at him.

"Yep," I said, feigning brightness. In truth, Rika's words were still rolling around in my head. He looked around before standing up.

"We should probably wake everyone up, so we can get moving."

"I call Yumi, Yori, and Kiba!" I called. Rika gave me an annoyed look.

"I'll wake up Mizuki and Sai," Shikamaru told us. Rika sighed.

"You stuck me with Itachi and Deidara on purpose didn't you?" she asked me. I just shrugged innocently.

"I've been awake," Itachi said, opening his eyes. Rika and I shared a look, both of us wondering if he overheard us. If he did, he didn't show any sign, so we just shrugged and moved on to waking up the others. By the time I had Yori, Kiba, and Yumi up, Rika was still working on Deidara.

It was actually pretty funny to watch. She just kept reaching out a hand to shake his shoulder, then she would pull it back, shaking her head. Next to me, Yumi sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Why don't you just do it?" she asked. Rika glared at her.

"Um, maybe because those hand mouths freak me the heck out!"

"So wait, you're saying his hands freak you out more than the idea that he's going to blow you up if you wake him up?" I asked, smirking.

"Yes! I'd rather have that happen then for him to even touch me with one of those things!" By this point, all of our yelling had woken him up...not that Rika knew this. I held back a smile as he smirked and reached forward. The scream that followed his mouth tongue licking her arm was loud enough to rival any scream queen's.

"You guys suck!" Rika snapped, stomping over to the others. Yumi, Mizuki, and I were laughing to hard to even reply. Deidara just looked smug, making me wonder how Yumi put up with him. Normally she hated his type.

"Can you guys pull yourselves together! We need to go!" Kiba snapped. I wiped the tears from my eyes before skipping, arm and arm with Mizuki, over to everyone with Yumi following close behind. (She refused to take part in the skipping.)

By the time we had started off, I had almost completely shoved the conversation with Rika to the back of my mind.

**A/N: First of all, sorry this is late...again. I've just had a hard week. It kind of feelings like some things are falling apart around me, but I'll pull through. Oh, and for anyone who doesn't know, 'scream queen' is a term for those old Hollywood girls in scary movies who had that perfect girlish shriek. Gotta love it. Anyway, one more chapter today! **


	37. Chapter 37: Yori

**A/N: Wow...I seriously can't believe some people. I checked Unreal today and saw I had a new review and apparently, it 'fuking sucks' and I 'don't deserve to write on fanfiction' because I am a 'dumb bitch'. Not really sure how to react to that, but ok...sad thing was the person who reviewed wasn't signed, so I just think they just wanted to hate. I don't mind flames, just please be respectful and be constructive. Jeez...on a brighter note, here's Yori.**

**Chapter 37: Suna**

_Yori_

"Jeez, how did Lei tolerate this! It's freaking hot out here!" Mizuki complained. After almost a week of walking we finally made it to the desert. Needless to say, not everyone was particularly enjoying this part of the journey.

"It's not that bad, if you just ignore pretend your in the arctic you'll feel a lot cooler," Katsumi suggested. Mizuki glared at her.

"How in the heck to I do that?" she asked. Katsumi shrugged.

"I don't know, I've been singing Christmas music in my head," she told us. Yumi raised an eyebrow.

"Is that why you've been acting so cheery while the rest of us are resisting the urge to kill you?" she asked lightly.

"Oh haha, seriously, try it!" Mizuki considered it for a moment and then flopped back into the sand. We all stopped and stared at her.

"What do you think you're doing?" Kiba asked. She smiled.

"I'm making snow angels, can't you tell?"

"Yeah, and look over there it's a penguin!" Yumi said sarcastically. Mizuki shot up.

"Where?" Yumi facepalmed.

"No where, stupid, it was a joke!" Mizuki just stared at her for a moment with a blank expression.

"Well it wasn't a very funny one," she muttered. I watched as Itachi moved forward to help her up while Yumi scoffed.

"Someone save me from the stupid," she muttered. I figured now was a could time to intervene.

"Look, Suna is just a little further. If you look closely, you can see the outline of the village," I pointed out. Everyone followed my finger until they too saw the city. Almost automatically everyone's moods lifted.

"Good eye Yori," Shikamaru complimented, moving forward to lead us to the village. We all followed, quieter this time, though I think I could still here Katsumi humming 'Jingle Bells' under her breath.

It had been rough, all of us travelling together, but I was finally starting to feel like we might all be starting to get used to each other, though I still noticed some glaring going on *cough* Deidara *cough*. The first day we were all together we didn't make it very far because Shikamaru had to keep breaking up fights and I had to keep healing people afterwards.

It took a lot of time out of the day.

"Halt!" a guard shouted at us from the gate. We all stopped, letting Shikamaru be the one to talk for us.

"We're here to talk deliver a message from Konoha to the Kazekage," he told them, using the lie that he, Sai, and Kiba had come up with. We had also made sure to have Itachi and Deidara behind us so they couldn't see that they were Akatsuki. We just prayed no one recognized Deidara as being the one who kidnapped Gaara.

"The Kazekage doesn't have time to speak with you," the guard spat. Shikamaru didn't move.

"It is an urgent matter," he told them. The guard opened his mouth to say something else, but then a hand clasped down on his shoulder.

"Relax. The Kazekage has time for Konoha." It was Kankuro. He stepped forward with Temari flanking him. The guard eyed us one more time and then relaxed his stance. I breathed a sigh of relief, glad that there wasn't a fight. I really didn't like violence.

"Are you all here about Lei?" Temari asked us. This time Rika stepped forward.

"We were wondering if we could talk to her," she asked. Kankuro shook his head.

"She's not here, we were hoping she had gone back to Konoha," Temari said. I frowned. We had all been afraid of this.

"Can we talk to the Kazekage then?" Shikamaru asked. The siblings looked us all over, their eyes stopping on Itachi and Deidara and narrowing dangerously.

"We'll only let the girls in, the rest of you will have to stay out here." I watched Yumi slap a hand over Deidara's mouth before he could say anything and I felt Kiba tense up behind me. Them letting us go was not going to be easy.

"We have to do this. We need to know what was going on with Lei before she had left," I pointed out. I turned on the group.

"It's not like we'll be in any danger and if we are, Yumi can stop anything from hurting us and I can heal almost anything. Not to mention, Rika's super hearing and Katsumi's visions," I reminded them all.

"Hey what about me!" Mizuki spoke up. Yumi bonked her on the head.

"Shh, Yori's talking," she muttered. Mizuki rubbed her head.

"Someone used bonk," she muttered. I ignored her.

"This could be the only chance we have and we didn't come here for nothing," I told them. Kiba growled.

"If you get hurt..." he started, unable to finish the thought. I smiled at him sweetly.

"Nothing will happen, I'm sure of it."

"So what ar we waiting for, let's go meet the panda boy!" Mizuki stated, marching towards Temari and Kankuro. Yumi and Rika sighed, but Katsumi and I giggled.

"If you girls aren't back by the time it gets dark, we'll send someone in after you," Shikamaru said, casting a look at Katsumi that she didn't seem to notice. I wondered when he would finally admit to her and to himself that he liked her, but then I refocused on what we were supposed to be doing.

"Ok, we'll sure to be back by then," Rika told them before following after Mizuki who was, for some odd reason, trying to mold the sand into something.

"What the heck do you think you're doing?" Yumi asked.

"I'm making a snowman, duh." Que Yumi bonking her over the head again.

"Seriously! Who keeps using my word!" I giggled. hopefully Gaara was prepared to deal with us, or else we might need someone to come after us just to keep us from being killed, or at least to keep Mizuki from being killed.

"Lord help us," Yumi muttered, echoing my thoughts. Oh well, no matter what at least we would find out about what happened to Lei.

**A/N: Sorry about my small rant at the top. I plan on deleting that review once I get the time. Also I will be posting tomorrow, I promise.**


	38. Chapter 38: Yumi

**A/N: Ok, so it's time for Yumi's chapter! Yay! I meant to say this earlier, but the next time I do a double chapter day will be when I hit one twenty! In other news it's almost Valentine's Day...yay. Even when I had a boyfriend I really wasn't a fan of this holiday. You should show the people you love that you love them everyday, not just Valentine's. Now onto the story!**

**Chapter 38: Awkward**

_Yumi_

"He'll see you all now," Temari said, coming out of Gaara's office. We had been waiting in the hall for around ten minutes while the sand siblings all talked. It was really boring and annoying, espeacially considering we were all dying of curiousity. We wanted to know what happened to Lei, not admire the door to Gaara's office.

Rika was the first one in, having shot off the wall and darted into Gaara's office. The rest of us followed a little more slowly after her (yes, even me). I had to admit, I was pretty nervous to find out what had happened to our friend, though so was everyone else. We didn't want to have to fight her, but if she wasn't here and she wasn't with us, chances are that we would have to.

"Lord Kazekage," Yori said with a polite bow. Her tone implied that we should follow her lead, which we did, albeit a little reluctantly. He nodded, his pale blue eyes seeming impassive.

"So Lei did not go back to Konoha?" he asked us. We all shook our heads.

"We came here trying to find her," Rika told him. He released a small sigh.

"Please, we want to know what happened to her," Yori told him. He was quiet for a moment.

"Lei has a darkness in her that reminds me of how I used to be. I wanted to help her, but she left when I tried and we haven't seen her since," he told us.

"Do you know where she went?" Katsumi asked. He shook his head.

"A guard saw her leave through the gate and that was the last anyone saw of her."

"This isn't good," I muttered. His eyes moved to me.

"What do you mean?" he inquired. I sighed.

"We recently learned that in our first life she was the reason we all gave up our lives. She used her influence to get us to give up our lives against our will," I told him.

"We think she might try to do it again in this life," Yori interjected.

"Then it is as I feared. She may have been found by the enemy," he told us. I clenched my fists, this was exactly what we didn't want to happen.

"So what are we going to do?" I snapped. He was quiet again, thinking.

"Tomorrow, I am to leave to go to a gathering at the Kage's Summit, where I will be meeting with the Kages of the other villages to discuss the fate of Sasuke Uchiha." I the scene came to my mind instantly. Madara Uchiha would make an apearence at that meeting. It could be a chance to see if he had Lei.

"We will go with you!" Rika said, following my thoughts. He shook his head.

"I am only permitted to bring two ninja along with me and I am bringing Temari and Kankuro," he told us. Rika smiled.

"But we aren't ninja, we are five of the Six Pieces of the Path, we should be permitted to enter," she said. He watched her for a moment.

"That could work, but your companions will have to keep their distance if they don't want to be killed," he told us.

"We'll take that chance, we want to know what happened to Lei and this could be our chance," Katsumi said.

"Then tomorrow we will all go together." We all nodded. Katsumi glanced out the window.

"We should be getting back to our companions before they send someone to come get us," she told him. He nodded.

"You may make camp on the outside of the gate of the village. I'd let you all stay here, but you have some members of the Akatsuki with you and while we trust Konoha, we do not trust them," he told us. We all nodded and exited his office.

"Wow, I can't believe we get to go to the Kage's Summit! I'm so excited!" Mizuki said bouncing. I rolled my eyes. At least she had the good sense to stay quiet while we were talking to Gaara.

"Shh! We can't let anyone hear that we are going, it might cause problems for Gaara!" Rika snapped.

"Did anyone else notice how he talked about Lei?" Yori said suddenly. We all looked at her.

"What do you mean?" I asked, thinking back to the conversation. I didn't notice anything.

"It just kind of sounded like he was actually worried about her," she told us. Mizuki snapped.

"Oh yeah! I noticed that too in his aura, it got all soft when he talked about her and it changed to a lighter shade of blue!" she told us.

"His aura was blue?" Katsumi asked. Mizuki nodded.

"It was kind of sad actually, but when he said her name it changed to a lighter color and went from sad to calm," she told us.

"Huh, that's interesting," Rika said. I scoffed.

"How?" I asked.

"Well, if he cares for her then we might have someone else on our side to help her," she told us. I had to admit that would be pretty good. Gaara was a Kazekage, he had power, power none of us had.

"Did you learn anything?" Shikamaru asked us when we got back. Rika sighed.

"Well we know more than we did before," she told him. We all were silent as she told him everything we had learned and that we were following Gaara to the Kage's Summit. He agreed that it would be best if we went on out own while they keep their distance, though I could tell Deidara and Kiba didn't like it. It was actually kind of funny how the two of them reacted in the same way to things pertaining my sister and I.

Speaking of Deidara, things had been kind of awkward since he kissed me. At least it was awkward on my part. Every time I saw him all I could think about was how he kissed me and then I would feel my face flush and I would be forced to look away.

He, on the other hand, acted like nothing had even happened. He still made fun of me and teased me while giving me that infuriating smirk. I was so confused, though I would never tell him that. I just didn't get that kiss. Did it mean something or was he just messing with me.

Honestly, it was most likely the messing with me option.

"It's that right Yumi?" Speak of the devil. I turned, doing my best to not think about the kiss as I glared at him.

"Is what right?" I asked him. He smirked.

"Didn't you flash me that one time?" I felt my face drain of all color. All of my friends were looking at me like I was crazy, except for Yori, who was smiling silently.

"I did not! My robe fell open while I was sleeping!" I snapped, all the blood rushing to my face. Deidara just smirked.

"Right, fell open," he muttered. I slapped him in the back of the head.

"It did and you know it!" I snapped. He shrugged, still smirking. I swear one of these days I'm going to wipe that smirk off his face with my fist.

"I'm not saying I didn't enjoy the view," he said. I wasn't even sure how to react to that.

"Whatever! I'm going to bed!" I snapped, pulling out my cot and laying down, pulling the covers up to my head. I figured if I couldn't see them, they couldn't see me.

The good news was, I fell asleep pretty soon after and found myself dreaming about that confusing kiss.


	39. Chapter 39: Rika

**A/N: So I finally figured out how to delete reviews so I managed to delete that Guest's mean review. Yay! So now we are onto Rika and after this cycle will be *drumroll please* Shikamaru's feature chapter! How exciting! Seriously though, I am really excited right now with everything. I finally decided on an ending and I can't wait until you guys see it!**

**Chapter 39: **

_Rika_

The next morning, we all woke up and packed everything up in time to see Gaara exit the gates of the village. I was excited to be getting somewhere, before it just felt like we were wandering aimlessly, but now we had somewhere to go. I only hoped that we managed to find Lei and get her back on our side soon so we can get out here and back to the other world.

I had made the decision after I realized how I felt about Sai. I didn't want to put him, or anyone for that matter, in danger and that was hat we were all doing, and no, leaving had nothing to do with avoiding my feelings...ok maybe it did a little, but that was only a side benefit, it was not why I chose this path.

We waited while Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro worked out how far we were going to behind so that we didn't look like we were with him. I tapped my foot my patience wearing thin. I spotted Mizuki kneeling in the sand with Itachi hovering over her. It looked like they were looking at something.

Curious, I walked over.

"What are you doing?" I asked her. She looked up at me and smiled. I had to admit, it felt good having the old Mizuki back after all of her sulking and moping around.

"I'm singing my drawing song," she told me happily. I raised an eyebrow.

"Drawing song?" By this point Katsumi had walked over to join in the conversation.

"Mhm, do you want to hear it?" she asked me.

"Of course we do!" Katsumi interjected. I glare at her, but she shrugged.

"Ok then! Here we go!" Mizuki stated acting like she was preparing herself to sing an opera.

"There was a little horizontal line, there was a little vertical line, and together they make a little...POSITIVI-TAY!" she declared. Katsumi and I looked at what she had drawn. Katsumi started cracking up, but I just facepalmed. It was a plus sign...she had drawn a plus sign...

"That's awesome!" Katsumi said through her laughter. Mizuki nodded.

"I have another version too," she told us. I opened my mouth to tell her that we didn't have to hear it, but of course, Katsumi butted in telling her to sing it.

"There was a little vertical line and without horizontal...all by myself..." she sang sadly. How did I end up with these idiots?

"What are you idiots doing?" Yumi demanded walking over. She had been in a bad mood since Deidara embarrassed her the night before. It was like she thought she had to act tougher than usual so we wouldn't make fun of her...not that it stopped us.

"Oh no! It's the flasher! Run for your lives! RUN!" Mizuki declared trying to get away. Yumi caught her by the collar before she could get very far and slapped her upside the head.

"We were just listening to Mizuki's drawing song," Katsumi told her. Yumi looked at me, her face asking if she wants to know. I shook my head.

"Well, come on, Shikamaru sent me over here to round you guys up," she told us, crossing her arms. I looked over to where the shinobi was standing only to have my eyes lock with Sai's. He was watching me with that same blank expression on his face, making it difficulty to tell what he was thinking.

Since the night I had realized my feelings, I'd been trying to distance myself from him. I still had trouble sleeping and I knew that he would watch me while I sat staring at the moon. I could always feel his eyes on me, it was almost like he were physically touching my arm, but I always ignored him.

I needed to clip this love thing in the bud...

"So Temari wants us to stay out of sight while we follow them, do you think your friends can manage that?" Shikamaru asked me, eyeing Mizuki and Katsumi who had started drawing plus signs in the sand, singing the drawing song. I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to assure myself that all of us going was a good idea.

"I'm sure they'll be fine. I know if Mizuki has any trouble Itachi could carry her as for Katsumi...well you were the one who trained her, do you think she can handle it?" I asked him with a smirk. He watched Katsumi while she tried to stop Yumi from throttling Mizuki.

"I think she can manage as long she doesn't find anything to trip on," he told me. I smiled. That was Katsumi, a true klutz. I turned towards Gaara, who was, for some odd reason, watching Mizuki run from Yumi while Katsumi chased them, (Yori was by everyone else, laughing at everyone). He looked...sad. I then wondered what his aura looked like and if he was thinking about Lei and how she fit in to this...odd group.

"When we get to the Summit, you'll have to split up and find a way to sneak in," Kankuro told me. I nodded.

"We were thinking of seeing if Yumi could make us move as fast as she does and if not, we'll just have her walk in and knock out the guards," I told him with a shrug. He seemed to doubt Yumi's speed, but he nodded anyway.

"Can we take a break, I'm exhausted," Mizuki said, moving next to me and resting her arm on my shoulder. I sighed.

"We haven't even left yet," I reminded her. She groaned.

"Speaking of, when are we leaving?" Deidara asked. I thought about that for a moment.

"I guess we could have left a while ago."

"THEN WHY ARE WE STILL HERE!" Yumi, Kiba, and Deidara shouted. I held my hands up in a placating gesture.

"I don't know, but it might have something to do with tweedle dee and tweedle dum over there," I told them pointing to Mizuki and Katsumi who were both trying to act all nonchalant. I think Katsumi was even trying to whistle.

"Ok, before we end up stuck out here in the desert for another night, can we go?" Yori asked, jumping between the groups.

"I second that," I said, starting to walk...even though I had no idea where I was going. Luckily everyone followed and Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro took the lead. As he was passing, Gaara paused to match my pace.

"That blond Akatsuki..." he started. I sighed, knowing where he was going.

"I know, he was the one who attacked you a while back, but don't worry, he's not going to cause any problems. Yumi has him on a tight leash," I told him. He stared at me for a moment.

"You knew Lei well," he stated. I nodded.

"Yeah, she was my best friend," I told him. He seemed to think this over for a second, but before he could say anything more, we had to split off to hide. As we parted, I again thought about what he was to Lei.


	40. Chapter 40: Lei

**A/N: Ok, so thanks to a certain reviewer of mine (who I'm so glad is back by the way!) I have reached 140 reviews! Now, my number for double chapters was set at 120 and so guess what? DOUBLE CHAPTER DAY! But that's not all, 140 was the number after 120 I was going to use for double chapters so...are you ready for this...FOUR CHAPTERS WILL BE POSTED TODAY! That's right, be excited! Now, onto Lei's chapter and after this is Shikamaru's feature!**

**Chapter 40: Leaving**

_Lei_

I wasn't sure how long I had been stuck in the cave type hideout with Madara, but I had to say, it was getting pretty old. I had gotten a handle of my powers and I had been training more. I now felt confident enough to kick so low level ninja butt without the use of my powers, a thought that I relished.

I did hate being stuck though. I was sick of fighting all of the Zetsu's. They were all so boring and easy to kill. I wanted a challenge, something I could really get worked up about. I had so much pent up anger and I wanted to take it out of someone who wasn't half plant.

A part of me was still trying to tell me that what I was doing, where I was, who I was with, was wrong. It was the little part of me that, oddly enough, sounded like Gaara. Sometimes I would almost listen to it, but then I would remember how Rika just brushed me off.

My friends didn't need me. They didn't want me, so I was going to make them pay. It was simple. Screw with me and I'd fight back. It was all basic instinct.

Kick an animal enough and it goes feral.

"Lei," Madara's deep voice said from behind me, I turned, panting. I had been back in the large dome room, training. I wanted to get better at fighting without my powers so I had been training constantly.

"Yes?" I asked him once I caught my breath. I made sure to stand tall, trying to make myself look like an imposing figure. I wanted him to treat me with respect and not as an underling. I wanted him to know that if I wanted to, I could kill him.

"We are leaving," he told me. I raised an eyebrow.

"Leaving?" He nodded.

"All of the different Kage's from all of the villages are gathering at the Kage's Summit. We are going to make an appearance," he told me. I smiled, feeling excitement rise in my chest. This was exactly what I was looking for. A fight I could really sink my teeth into.

"How soon?" I asked.

"Now," he told me. Without waiting, he started to walk away. I followed after him, but once in the hall he paused.

"There is something I'll need you to do," he told me.

"Name it," I told him, excited by the prospect.

"Your friends are going to be at the meeting. Since we don't yet have all the jinchuriki you will not need to Influence the,, but there's one in particular that could aid us," he told me. For a moment I felt a flash of regret. It was the small part of my heart that was trying to tell me what i was doing was wrong, but I stomped it out.

"Which one?" I asked.

"The healer."

**A/N: Don't hate me! I know this chapter was short, but it's hard to write for Lei when all she's doing is being evil. Oh and a quick shoutout to the friend who was the inspiration for Yumi Yama, Trystin, I love you! And a shoutout to her sister too, hi Rumor! (Did I spell that right?) Three more chapters today! I promise they'll be longer. =)**


	41. Chapter 41: Shikamaru

**A/N: Ah, Shikamaru's feature, yay! Oh and I didn't realize this until after I finished the last chapter, the word count was 666...it's the devil chapter...Anyway, I hope I do him justice! Enjoy!**

**Chapter 41: Acknowledgment**

_Shikamaru_

"Hey guys look, a squirrel!" the one called Mizuki shouted pointing to a tree. I shook my head. Traveling with Katsumi's friends was really starting to bother me. They were all so troublesome. especially Mizuki.

"Will you shut up! Whta part of quiet don't you understand!" Yumi snapped, making just as much, if not more, noise than her friend. Rika, the only seemingly sane one out of the bunch, sighed.

I felt my eyes drift over to Katsumi, who was, as usual, staying pretty close to me. I wondered why she did that, not that I didn't want her around, I just figured she'd want to be around Mizuki. They seemed to be very close and like spending time together. It was the only time Katsumi wasn't nervous.

"Should we stop? Gaara and the others have already made camp," Rika asked me. As always, her hearing shocked me. I nodded and we all stopped.

"Kitty, I need you!" Mizuki said appearing by Katsumi's side. She seemed surprised, but then that changed to annoyance.

"I told you, don't call me Kitty!" she snapped. Her electric blue eyes moved to mine and then she looked away shyly. I sighed. I didn't understand why she was so shy. It was really troublesome.

I watched Katsumi talking to Mizuki, they looked like they were arguing about something. Mizuki pointed at me and Katsumi quickly pulled her arm down. Her eyes found mine and she waved nervously. I pretended not to notice. I figured she might act less embarrassed if she thought I didn't notice.

"They're so dumb sometimes," I heard Rika mutter. I looked at her and she smirked.

"Katsumi likes you, you know," she told me. I sighed.

"I know."

"Do you like her?" she asked. I shrugged. I really didn't know how to feel about her. She was the complete opposite of what I wanted out of life. She was odd and nervous, and emotional. She was complicated, but I had to admit, she had really grown on me.

"Mizuki made me come over here," Katsumi said walking over, her pale cheeks flushed and she wouldn't meet my eyes. I smiled, remembering when I first met her and the only thing she could say was 'purple elephants' (whatever that was). Her friend had been there too.

"Why?" I asked her. She shrugged, but her cheeks flushed even more. I decided to wait to see what she wanted to tell me, I felt like if I asked she would freeze or say something stupid again.

"So how long do you think it'll be before we reach the summit?" Yori asked. I thought about it for a moment.

"Most likely around two more days, maybe three." Yumi groaned and flopped into the grass. The blond Akatsuki smirked at her.

The Akatsuki members still made me nervous. They were the enemy and were dangerous, but the two that were with us hadn't done anything yet. The blond one, Deidara, seemed more unstable to me. There was something about him that seemed a little psychotic. The other one, the Uchiha, he made me more nervous than the blond. He was quiet, only talking to Mizuki when she pestered him and his eyes...I didn't know if we would be able to stop him if he attacked us.

"Um, Kitty?" Mizuki said walking over and draping her arm across Katsumi's shoulders.

"What?" she asked.

"When I said go over there, I also said talk to him, and what are you doing?" she asked. Katsumi flushed a darker shade of red.

"Mind your own business!" she snapped. Mizuki held her hands up in surrender, but she was smiling. Katsumi looked at me and then her eyes popped. She looked like she was about to say something, but then she just crouched down and...well I really wasn't sure what she was doing.

"Katsumi! Don't grow mushrooms in the forest!" Yumi snapped. Katsumi just sighed.

"Oh great, now look at what you did Mizuki," Rika sighed.

"What's wrong with her?" I asked Rika. She gave me a pointed look.

"She thinks you don't like her. She keeps trying to be normal and every time she slips, she gets embarrassed and depressed and this is just what happens," she said gesturing to Katsumi, who looked like there was a cloud of gloom hovering over her.

I sighed. She really was way to much trouble, but I walked over to her anyway.

"Katsumi," I said her name, trying to get her to come back to reality. She looked at me, but it seemed like it took her a moment to register who I was. Once she did, her eyes widened and she turned around to lean against the tree. Now that I was paying attention, she had been acting kind of weird.

I guess now I knew why.

She thought I didn't like her because she wasn't normal.

"Oh, hi," she said sadly. Again, she refused to look at me, either that or she found the leaves on the ground to be very interesting. I sighed. She really didn't like making things easy.

"Sorry about freaking out," she said suddenly. I raised an eyebrow.

"Well, you didn't say purple elephants this time," I reminded her. She groaned.

"I'm such an idiot," she said, more to herself than me.

For a moment, all I wanted to do was try and comfort her, but I didn't. She was so weird, always bouncy and freaking out over the smallest things. She had visions of the future, that left her incapacitated. She was exactly the opposite of what I considered to be my type, but that didn't stop me from caring about her.

She was so troublesome, but I actually wanted to be around her. I liked it when she smiled and I wanted to be there to keep her from getting hurt when she had a vision. She was strong, so much stronger than she gave herself credit for, and she was so...beautiful when she took her hair down. I sighed.

I hoped I wasn't going to regret these feelings.

"Katsumi," I said. She looked at me, then. Those shockingly blue eyes locked on to mine. She looked like she had given up.

"What?" I really wasn't sure how to tell her how I felt. It all sounded stupid and reminded me of my dad who just let my mom walk over him. I didn't want that...at all.

"I...don't hate you." She looked confused, then her eyes got wider and before I could really react, she had grabbed me in a hug.

"Really? So you like me?" she asked me. I sighed, but I was smiling.

"Yes."

**A/N: Just a little fluff to make everyone's day a little brighter. It could also be because I was listening to Candy Candy by Kyary Pamyu Pamyu while typing this...anyway, two ore chapters today!**


	42. Chapter 42: Mizuki

**A/N: Ah Mizuki, writing her chapters always makes me laugh. So, I decided to start another poll. I'm curious, I want to know who your favorite couple is in the story so please, when you can, go to my profile and at the top should be the poll. It will be open until...March 13th. So please vote!**

**Chapter 42: Kage's Summit**

_Mizuki_

"Are we there yet?" I asked.

"NO!" everyone snapped back. I know, they're mean right? Though...it was the fifteenth time I asked. Oops.

After the fluffiness with Kitty, we all settled in and rested and the next day it was back to hiking! Whoo! Wait, no, not whoo, do you know why? Because I had to be quiet. I really didn't like being quiet. Not even Kisame the wonder shark could keep me quiet!

"We should be there soon. The Kazekage seemed to have known a quicker way so we should get there before sunset," Itachi told me. I sighed. I couldn't wait to be able to speak at a normal volume again. That and we would get to sneak into a secret meeting.

I wondered if we would be able to bust in all dramatic and be all like 'stop the presses!" Wait that's wrong...'I object!' That one was closer. Either way, it was going to be fun, even though Itachi couldn't come with us.

"Katsumi?" I turned around to see that Katsumi was crouching on a tree branch. Her aura was flashing all sorts of different colors, making me feel like I was in some sort of acid trip. She must have been having a vision.

"Crap, so something bad is going to happen, perfect," Yumi scoffed. Yori slapped her sister on the arm.

"Be positive, at least we'll be prepared," she reminded her. Yumi just rolled her eyes. Shikamaru and Rika had crouched close to Katsumi and both had a hand on even of shoulders until finally she shook her head.

"Whoa, that was trippy," she muttered. Her aura returned to it's normal color, well until she noticed Shikamaru was touching her, then it flared a dark pink.

"What did you see?" Rika asked her.

"We're going to need Shikamaru and Kiba to go find Sakura and Sai, you need to make a clone to go with them." I nodded in understanding. So something bad was going to happen if things didn't go the same as in the anime. Made sense.

I listened to her explain to Sai what he needed to do then I watched as she turned to Itachi.

"You, you can't go into the summit, no matter what," she told him. He raised an eyebrow, which I knew to mean he was very confused.

"Why?" he asked her.

"If you follow us in, even if it's to help us, Madara will take your eyes," she told him. I could tell this frustrated him. I grabbed his hand and squeezed it, trying to convey that we would be fine. We still had Sai and Deidara if we needed help.

"Also, if anyone else follows us in, it'll end in disaster." Nevermind...

"So in other words, we're on our own," Rika deadpanned.

"Well, then we're screwed," Yumi sighed.

"Well, hold on, it's not like we're defenseless," Katsumi pointed out. Yumi gave her a look.

"Yes, we are quite a force," she said sarcastically. Katsumi rolled her eyes.

"My vision showed me that as long as we go in on our own no one will die," she told us. Rika clapped her hands together.

"Well, either way we have no choice. We have to go in by ourselves," she stated.

"Whoopee," Yumi said dryly, earning a glare from Rika.

"You know it could be worse, at least we have some advantage," I pointed out.

"You mean super hearing, healing, visions that cripple Katsumi, speed that only I can use, and you seeing pretty colors? You're right, we can totally kick all five Kage's plus the ninja they brought," Yumi said sarcastically.

"Um, we wouldn't have to fight the sand siblings silly, they are on our side," I reminded her. Rika held up a hand.

"Will you two shut up, we need to get moving if we want to make it on time," she said. We all agreed and set off again. I knew we didn't really stand a chance against anyone who was going to be at the Summit, but there was no way we were going to go back after coming so far.

"I don't like this," Itachi muttered next to me. I smiled at him.

"Don't worry, we'll be fine, it's not like we don't have some tricks up our sleeve. Yumi underestimates how much she can do when she's moving so fast we are all statues. Actually, I think everyone is lucky that's not my gift," I told him. If I could move as fast as Yumi, sharkbait (hoohaha! teehee, old habits die hard) would have killed me.

"We're here," I heard Shikamaru say. I peeked around him and saw the small village from the anime and a little further was the summit. I couldn't wait. I really wanted to squeeze the Tsuchikage's nose. I wanted to know if it would honk.

"So what now?" Katsumi asked.

"You girls will have to follow after Gaara and sneak in the Summit," he told us. Rika put a finger to her lips, thinking.

"Yumi, we'll need you to go in with Gaara and take out the guards before letting us in, can you do that," she asked. Yumi sighed, but a moment later she had vanished.

"I didn't mean right now," Rika muttered before turning to the rest of us...well actually it was more towards me.

"We're going to have to be as silent as possible," she said, her violet eyes locked on me.

"I mean it, if I hear you I will sew your lips shut!" My jaw dropped.

"No fair, you can hear everything!" She smirked.

"Exactly. Now come on," she said leading the way. I waved to Itachi before skipping after her. This was going to be fun!


	43. Chapter 43: Katsumi

**A/N: God, this group trying to sneak into the Summit...this should be fun. Last chapter of the day! And please vote on my poll! Also the next double chapter week will be 160. =)**

**Chapter 43: Break In!  
**

_Katsumi_

"Do you guys have any idea how long I've been waiting for you guys! A minute moving as fast as I do is like a day!" Yumi snapped when she opened the door for us. Rika gave her a look that told her to shut up before walking in. We all followed after her as quietly as we could.

Even though the guys were gone I was still feeling a little wary about this. in my vision Yumi hadn't seen a guard and the moment we walked in, he attacked us, Sai was left to fight him, but then more guards showed up and went after the rest of us. Deidara tried to help, but the fact that we couldn't fight made us targets and Sai was killed defending us and we had to leave Deidara.

Then I saw Sakura being killed by Sasuke because the timing was off since she didn't have to knock out Shikamaru and Kiba. I knew that we had to do this alone because we would all be more focused without anyone to protect us.

"So what now?" Mizuki asked as Yumi disappeared to take out more guards. It was really eerie sometimes how fast she moved. One second she would be in front of us then we would blink and she'd be gone only to reappear a second later and all the guards be on the ground.

"We're going to have to bust into the meeting," Rika said with a shrug, like it was easiest thing in the world. Yumi rolled her eyes.

"We're going to have to wait for a moment when they won't kill us first," she pointed out. Rika nodded.

"This is where I come in," she muttered. We were silent as she closed heer eyes, focusing on what the Kage's were saying. When she opened her eyes a moment later her eyes were blazing.

"That damn Danzo is here. He's telling them about us and our part in all of this. He wants the other Kage's to agree to terminating us," she growled.

"Have I mentioned how glad I am that the old bastard is going to die?" I threw in. Mizuki giggled.

"Not unless we screwed things up here, remember?" Yumi pointed out. Mizuki sighed.

"You're like a constant dark cloud you know that?" she said. Yumi sneered.

"Alright, there all focusing on Danzo right now so now's a good a time as any. If we're lucky we can just slip in without them noticing us," Rika said. We all nodded and followed her. We stopped at a door and Mizuki, being herself, pressed her ear to it to hear. Rika shook her head and pinched the bridge of her nose.

I wanted to point out that not all of us had the same hearing as her, but I didn't want us to risk being caught. Instead I leaned into Mizuki to hear, which of course made Yumi and Yori do it too.

"The Six Pieces of the Path are real and here in this world," I heard Danzo say. I heard a woman scoff.

"The Six Pieces are only a legend, there is no proof that they even existed," she said. It must have been the Mizukage. I wasn't sure why, but I kind of liked her. Maybe it was just because she was so touchy about her age. A sudden crack caught my attention. Did something hit the door?

The answer was no.

The door had given out from the weight of all four of us leaning on it and before we could stop ourselves, we all fell with it, landing on top of one another. All the eyes in the room turned towards.

"Um...we come in peace?" Mizuki tried. Yumi facepalmed.

"We are so screwed," she muttered.

"What is the meaning of this!?" the Raikage said standing. I opened my mouth to answer her but before I could say anything every ninja the Kage's had brought with them (not including Temari and Kankuro of course), were surrounding us, posed to kill us if we made a wrong move.

"Um...We're..." I tried.

"They are five of the Six Pieces of the Path," Danzo declared standing. The Tsuchikage chuckled.

"These little girls? I doubt it." Before any of us could even blink Yumi was in front of him, very obviously angry.

"Well believe it old man!" she snarled.

"Yumi look out!" Yori called, noticing one of the ninja moving towards her. Again Yumi disappeared only to appear behind the ninja, twisting one arm behind her back.

"You know you really need to control your anger issues," Rika muttered, crossing her arms, seeming to forget that we were in a deadly situation. Before anything else could happen I felt the world fade around me. I was about to have a vision.

"Katsumi!" I heard Mizuki say. I braced myself, letting the images come to me.

"I saw Madara appearing and Lei was with him. We tried to get Lei, but she did something to us and before anything else could happen, she grabbed Yori and was gone. I felt my breathing pick up as I waited for more images to come to me, but that was it. Then something strange happened. It was the earth was shaking under me.

"Holy crap! Kitty come on!" Mizuki called. Suddenly my vision cleared and I looked around me. The ninja that had surrounded us had been flung against the walls and were picking themselves up.

"What happened?" I asked.

"We don't know, you looked like you having a vision like normal, but then you started breathing all weird and your eyes changed into this weird black color and everyone except us was blow back," Yori explained.

"Oh...um...sorry?" I said, praying whatever I had done didn't get us killed.

"Kitty, it was so cool! It was like you had telephonic!" Mizuki said.

"I think you mean Telekinesis," Yori corrected.

"See, they are the Pieces of the Path," Danzo said using this to his advantage.

"And the old fart just keeps going, I'm pretty sure they figured that out by now dumbass," Yumi sneered. Danzo glared at her with his one visible eye.

"These girls do not need to be killed," Gaara suddenly interjected.

"Yeah, listen to him!" Mizuki ordered. Rika promptly slapped her hand over her mouth to keep her from saying something else that was incredibly stupid.

"Then what do you suggest we do Kazekage?" the Raikage asked. Gaara opened his mouth to reply, but then it happened.

Madara had arrived and next to him was none other than our friend, Lei.

**A/N: Phew, I finished right at midnight, go me! Four chapters, wow, I can't believe I did it all on time, but I did. Now, please remember to vote on the poll and I'm sorry if some of the order of events is off, I can't remember what happened exactly and I can't seem to find it right now. See you all again on Sunday!**


	44. Chapter 44: Yori

**A/N: So...I've been thinking, a while ago I found out a the sixth Naruto Shippuden movie and how in it, the characters are all different, Hinata is apparently sexy and bold, Sasuke is still in the village and is a huge player, Kiba is a cat, Shikamaru and Choji hate each other, Ino is shy, Sai can't draw, and everything is just all sorts of messed up and I keep thiniking...what would the six do in this world? So I'm asking, would that be a story you would want to read?**

**Chapter 44: Captured**

_Yori_

I opened my eyes slowly. What had happened? I tried to think, but my head hurt to much. I reached up and touched my head, letting my palm heat up. Soon, the pain started to ebb and I was able to see more clearly. It looked like I was in some sort of cave.

Then I remembered:

(Flashback)

_"Lei!" Rika was the first one of us to regain their voice. Our friend turned at looked at us, her reddish brown eyes looked different, colder. I shivered._

_"Lei, what are you doing? You're hanging out with a perv, don't you know how sick that is?" Mizuki asked, causing my sister to thump her on the back of the head._

_"Lei, you know what to do," Madara said from next to her. She nodded and jumped down in front of us._

_"Lei, you don't have to do this," I tried to reason. She looked at me._

_"Pass out," she commanded, her eyes flashing red. I felt a moment of surprise, mixed with a feeling of sadness. Lei had used her power on me. She had influenced me. A moment later, my eyes closed and I felt myself hit the ground._

(End Flashback)

That was right, Lei had influenced me, but then wha had happened? I asked myself. A sound caught my attention and I turned and faced the door of the room. It opened slowly, revealing Lei.

"Lei," I muttered. She smiled at me, but it was a smile that held no warmth.

"You're awake. Good, we need you," she told me. I scoffed.

"Lei, I'm not going to help you if you're working with Madara," I told her.

"Are you sure about that?" she asked. I just locked eyes with her, refusing to blink. I wasn't going to let her use me. She just smirked and gestured to something in the hall.

A white Zetsu walked in and just stood next to her. I tensed. Though, I really didn't like fighting, I knew how to defend myself if she used it to attack me, but she didn't. Instead she just raised and arm and looked at it. Her eyes flashed red and the Zetsu imploded. I shot forward, instinct making me want to try to safe him, but I was too late.

The blood sprayed out, soaking me as the body fell to the ground in pieces, leaving only Lei. I looked at her, not believing what I was seeing. This devil couldn't be Lei. It just couldn't be her.

"If you don't do what we tell you..." she said, trailing off at the end. I rolled my eyes.

"If you kill me your not going to accomplish anything," I reminded her, channeling my inner Yumi. Lei grinned, making me shudder.

"I wasn't going to do it to you. I was thinking more about your dog." I felt the blood drain from my face. Did they have Kiba here? Was he captured too?

"Fine, what do you want?" I asked reluctantly. She smiled and gestured for me to follow her. I did, hating the fact that I couldn't use my power to get out. I was trapped.

It looked as though we were in a cave of some kind, with torches to light the tunnels as we walked. She led me to a door and pushed it open. She was standing in my way so I couldn't see past her, but I could hear two other people breathing in the room.

"I brought her," Lei told one of the people in the room.

"Good. Bring her here." This voice, was deep, dark. I instantly recognized it as the voice of Madara Uchiha. Lei grabbed me by the arm and pulled me in.

For a moment I felt a flash go through me. It was like I could see her thoughts battling each other. Some were dark and some were white. The dark ones were winning. I tried to do something, but she let go of my hand before I could figure anything out.

"Come closer, Yori Yama." He said my name in a mocking tone, like it was a silly nickname, instead of my birth name. I did as he said and then I could see the other person in the room.

Lying on the table was Sasuke Uchiha.

"I need you to heal his eyes," he told me. I looked at him surprised, then I remembered. Itachi had been dead when Sasuke joined Madara and Madara had given Sasuke his brother's eyes. With his brother still living, he didn't have any eyes to give him.

So that was why they took me.

Reluctantly I moved forward and let my hand rest on his closed eyes. I funneled my power through my arm until my hand began to glow with a healing light. His eyes were already badly damaged, reminding me of how Itachi's were when I had healed him.

Once finished I stepped away from him, remembering how unstable he became.

I was afraid.

"Lei, take her back to her room," he commanded, Lei nodded, though I could tell by the look on her face she didn't like being ordered around. Before she could pull me away, Madara reached out and grabbed my chin. Once again, channeling my inner Yumi, I glared at him.

"Don't think I don't know who you are and what you can do, Yashashi-sa," he growled, before releasing me. I stumbled back a bit, but then did my best to regain my composure. Lei then grabbed me by the arm and dragged me back to my room where she shut me in and locked the door.

As I sat in the dark I started to wonder. What else could I do that scared Madara?

**A/N: Sorry for the jump. I promise I'll be going back and rehashing the details in Yumi's chapter. Remember, please vote on the poll on my profile and in your review answer if I should do the story I described on the top, or not.**


	45. Chapter 45: Yumi

**A/N: Ah! So my internet has been broken these past couple of days and I haven't been able to post, so to make up for it...three chapters! Yay!**

**Chapter 45: Oh Hell No!**

_Yumi_

"Pass out," Lei ordered her eyes flashing red. It took me only a moment for me to figure out who she was talking to, as Yori crumpled to the ground next to me. Feeling my body begin to vibrate, I watched as the world around me started to slow down. There was no way in hell I was going to loss my sister again.

Besides, if I did, Kiba would kill me.

I walked over to Lei, but before I could do anything a hand grabbed my wrist. I seriously, seriously hate to say this, but I screamed. In my defense, I thought everyone was frozen, but I guess I was wrong. I turned to see who had grabbed me and felt my blood run cold.

It was Madara.

"You're not the only one who can move this fast," he told me. I opened my mouth to give some smart-ass remark, but he swung me by my wrist and sent my flying. All the breathe rushed out of my body in one whoosh as my back slammed into the wall.

"Damn," I grunted, standing. Out of all of my friends I had the least amount of training. Meaning I stood zero chance against Madara, not that I wasn't going to try. My eyes moved to Lei, who's face was frozen in an evil looking smile and then I looked at Yori, who was just crumpled in a heap on the ground.

I didn't know why they wanted her, but there was no way I was going to let them take her. I couldn't even imagine what they would do to her. Yori was too soft for that. Suddenly an idea came to me.

"Take me!" I blurted. Madara cocked his head to the side.

"You?" he inquired. I nodded and he chuckled.

"How brave, trying to save your sister, too bad I have no use for your talents." Talents? He was going to use Yori to heal someone? Well, at least I knew there was something he couldn't do...

Before I could react, Madara shot forward, his elbow connecting with my stomach. Again, I felt all of the air rush out of me. My energy was draining and I wasn't able to keep up my speed, everything around us, started to move, slowly at first and then faster until everyone was back to normal.

"Yumi!" Katsumi said moving to my side. I held up a hand to stop her, keeping my eyes locked on the masked wonder, who was standing above me.

"You are not taking her," I snarled. He just laughed. That's not your decision. He turned back towards the Kages, ignoring my friends and eye. Lei on the other hand, kept her eyes looked on us, daring us to try something. I knew that if one of us even twitched she'd come after us.

She wasn't our friend anymore.

I noticed Gaara looking at her. I could tell he wanted to say something to her, but with Madara telling them his master plan, he had to pay attention. I heard the bastard mention us, but I kept my gaze focused on Lei. She was not taking my sister. No one was.

"Yumi," Katsumi whispered to me. I looked at her. She nodded in Madara's direction and then gave me a pointed look. It took me only a moment to figure out that she was going to try what she did to he other ninja on him. I nodded in understanding.

"Get ready," I whispered as quietly as I could. I saw Rika tense and then give a slight nod. She nudged Mizuki, who clenched her fists. We were all ready to attack.

"Now!" Katsumi said. A second later Madara was pushed forward into the wall. Lei's smile grew wider and she jumped down in the middle of us. I could tell Rika was shifting through her conflicting thoughts as she stared at her former friend, but Mizuki on the other hand didn't hesitate.

She moved forward, aiming a kick at the side of Lei's face. She managed to block it, but that gave Rika an opening. As she attacked, I tried to get to Yori, but before I could Madara intercepted me. I scowled.

"Back off," I warned him. He didn't say anything. He just grabbed my sister and moved to help Lei. All he had to do was grab her by the wrist and then fade from existence.

Yori was gone.

"Hello!" an annoying voice said from the middle of the room. We all looked over and I felt the strange urge to facepalm. It was the stupid white Zetsu here to tell the Kages that Sasuke was here. Wait a second...Sasuke!

"We need to go find Madara before he gets to far," Rika said, touching my shoulder. I pulled away from her.

"He's going to get Sasuke here, remember," I reminded her. Her eyes widened for a second and then she nodded.

"We might have changed to course of events. We should split up and try to see where he goes," she suggested. We all nodded.

"So who goes where?" Katsumi asked.

"I'll go with Gaara, Temari and Temari should be there, so I should be fine. Katsumi, you and Mizuki should go with Danzo, that's the most likely place he'll show up and with Mizuki's sensing ability she should be able to find him easily and Katsumi seems to have developed Telekinesis so she can use that. And Yumi, you should stay here." I bristled.

"You know there's no way he's coming back here! I need to save Yori!" I snapped. Rika nodded.

"I know, but I saw that Madara moved as fast as you. You have no way to defend yourself if he comes back," she told me. I grit my teeth, hating that she was right.

"Alright, let's go!" Mizuki said. We all nodded just as the room broke out into chaos. Sasuke had arrived.


	46. Chapter 46: Rika

**A/N: Ok, second chapter of the day! One more after this. I apologize if my timing is a little off when it comes to the events. It's been a while since I've seen these episodes so...yeah. Anyway, here we go, onto Rika's chapter! Oh and please don't forget about the poll on my profile page! I've decide that I'll write a little oneshot for the winning couple. =)**

**Chapter 46: An Emotional Meeting**

_Rika_

"I'm going with you!" I yelled to Gaara as we chased after Sasuke. He just nodded. When Sasuke had broken into the room, I had followed Gaara out of the room while The Mizukage went after Sasuke. I could tell, Yumi wanted to follow me, but she stayed put, doing what she was told, a first for her.

"Are you sure you should come?" Temari asked. I knew she thought I didn't have enough training and too be honest, I really didn't, but I needed to go with them. We had to get Yori back before something awful happened to her. I didn't know why they wanted Yori, by I assumed they were trying to get us all together for the summoning the ten-tails.

"I'll be fine," I told her. She gave me a doubtful look, but continued running. I knew she thought I didn't have the strength to fight and she was right, I didn't but I wasn't here to fight.

We then made it to a large open room. The first thing I saw was the Raikage, facing off against Sasuke. This was it. I remembered everything from the anime. This is where Gaara would fight Sasuke. I watched the sand move, saving the Raikage from the Amateratsu.

Needless to say, I immediately started scanning for Madara. I wasn't sure if he would appear or not, but if he was coming for all the Pieces of the Path, he might try to capture me. I knew I stood almost no chance against him, but that didn't stop me from wanting to try.

"You look so focused." I stiffened. No way. I turned around, jumping back. It was Lei. Somehow Lei had gotten behind me. She smiled at me. She didn't even look like herself anymore. Her normal bored looking eyes were filled with a hatred that I had never noticed before.

She looked at me like she didn't know me.

"Lei," I whispered. She cocked her head to the side.

"You ave something to say?" she asked.

"You don't have to do this! If you come with us, we can find a way home, we can go back to the way things were before all of this craziness happened!" I tried. She just laughed.

"Poor Rika. You're so afraid of belonging to a world so full of violence, afraid of loving someone from this world, but I can see through you Rika. Things can never go back to the way things were. You don't need me anymore, I have no place with you, so I found a new one." I shook my head.

"No, Lei you've always belonged with us," I told her. Anger flashed through her features.

"SHUT UP!" she commanded. I looked a way a moment before her eyes flashed, barely escaping her Influence.

"Lei!" I tried.

"You don't know anything about me and you don't care!" she snapped.

"You don't rally believe that do you?" I asked her. She smiled, this smile was a sad one.

"Of course I do." she whispered. i tried to step closer to her, but then, faster than I could track, she pulled out a kunai and threw it towards me. I heard it coming and managed to avoid it just in time. In that moment I realized I had no choice. I would have to fight my best friend.

I ran at her and swung at her. She ducked and swept my legs out from under me. Around us the building was beginning to crumble. We didn't have much more time before it would come down. I needed to finish this and get to Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro before the whole place came down. I performed some hand signs. I only knew a few jutsu thanks to Sai, but it was better than nothing.

"Shadow clone jutsu!" Two more of me appeared next to me. I only had a moment to marvel in the moment before the three of us attacked Lei.

She managed to take out one clone, but then I grabbed her arms and forced them behind her back. I wanted all of this to end, I wanted to go home where everything wasn't so confusing and I didn't feel like I was being pulled a part by my own emotions. The final clone pulled a kunai and aimed for her chest.

Before it could strike something struck it.

Both Lei and I looked over, surprised. It was Gaara. He had used his sand to take out my clone before it struck her. He wasn't looking a me though, he was looking at her. Sasuke had fled already, and the building was coming down fast. he wasn't running though. He was waiting.

"Lei," I heard him say. In that moment I realized what had happened. I almost killed my best friend. I let her go and she elbowed me in the stomach. As began to black out, I thanked the heavens that I hadn't killed her. I didn't know what I would have done if I had, but I knew I would never be able to live with myself.

No matter what she had done, she was and will always be, my best friend.

**A/N: Again, I'm really sorry if some of this is off and like I said at the top please, pease, please, vote on my poll! The winning couple will get their own oneshot so vote for your favorite! Right now it's a tie between Rika and Sai and Lei and Gaara! Please break the tie!**


	47. Chapter 47: Lei

**A/N: So, here's the last chapter of the day! I'll be posting on Wednesday too so be prepared! And again, the poll, vote on it! Now! Random side not, I think my dad is an idiot. He got rally excited over clearing snow of the satellite, like jumping up and down, dancing, kind of excited...it was weird. Also I would like to remind everyone that once I hit 160 I'll be doing double chapters again! Now, onto Lei, this will be longer than her last chapter...hopefully.**

**Chapter 47: Doubt**

_Lei_

"Lei." That voice. It was the same voice that told me what I was doing was wrong. I winced at the sound of it outside of my head. I felt Rika release me and I instinctively elbowed her in the stomach, hard enough to cause her to pass out. Leaving only Gaara and I.

I watched the sand snake over and pick Rika up, moving her over to Temari and Kankuro, but his eyes stayed locked on me. Unblinking and unrelenting. I met his gaze, trying to remain firm, but something about him unsettled me. It was like he made me doubt everything I had done.

"Gaara," I said his name calmly. I would not show fear in front of him.

"You're still like I was," he told me. I rolled my eyes about to tell him that I wasn't a murderer, but then I stopped, myself. I was a murderer. I had killed. I had blood on my hands. I looked down, staring at my palms. There was no blood on them, but I felt like there was.

"I am," I told him.

"You can change Lei," he told me. I shook my head. For the first time I was starting to feel guilt over what I had done, but there was nothing I could do to take it back now. This was the choice I had made and no matter what I was going to end up dead. Why change now when there was no one who could save us.

"No, I can't!" I snapped. My breathing had quickened and I felt like I was about to cry, but I refused. I wouldn't do it, not here. I wouldn't cry here.

I watched him as he moved forward, coming closer and closer to me. I wanted to turn and run from him, but it was like I was frozen to the spot. I wouldn't move. His pale blue eyes looked at me sadly and I shrank under his gaze. He didn't stop until he was right in front of me.

"Lei, come with us," he told me. I shook my heading, hating the tears that were slipping through.

"I can't, I can't," I told him. I looked away from him. I couldn't look at him, not knowing what I knew. This was my purpose in this world. I was here to be evil, that was all. I was here to be evil and then die. Gaara would never be able to understand that. He would die trying to change things.

"You can. You can come back from the darkness," he told me. I continued to shake my head.

"You don't understand," I told him. Behind him, I saw Temari and Kanuro holding onto Rika. They looked worried, afraid the building would collapse on us any second now. Gaara kept them covered in sand, but there was none over us. If the building came down we would both die.

For a moment I wanted that, but then I realized I didn't want him to die. He was needed in this world.

I stared at Rika's motionless form. I had done that too her, but then she had almost killed me. What had happened to the two of us? We used to be closer than sisters, but now it was like I didn't know her. No that wasn't it, it was like she didn't know me, because I had become something else.

Something dark.

"Lei," Gaara said. His pale hand touched my face, I looked at him, feeling confused. Before I could even react, he leaned down and kissed me. It was soft, almost feather light and it made my heart ache with what could have been if things were different.

He pulled back and I stared at him. I knew what he was doing. he was asking for me to go with them, to leave Madara, but I couldn't. This was my path and soon I would be responsible for the deaths of all of my friends again. There was nothing anyone could do to stop it.

"I'm sorry, but nothing can save me now," I whispered. A single tear slid down his cheek, just like the tear he shed for Sasuke. It was tear for someone who had shut themselves from the light and that was exactly what I had done and he couldn't help me.

But as I watched him walk back to his siblings I wished he could.

"Lei." I turned around. Madara was waiting for me. The building was coming down. He was going to take me back to the hideout before gathering Sasuke. I would have to make Yori heal him. The thought made me sick, but then I channeled No.

She would be able to do it.

She did what she did for love. So was I. I was doing all of this so Gaara wouldn't die, because I loved him. He was the only one who tried to save me, but now it was my turn to save him and to do it, I would kill my friends. It was my path. My destiny.

**A/N: Well that was emotional. I actually kind of teared up when he kissed her, not going to lie. Now I shall see everyone again Wednesday!**


	48. Chapter 48: Mizuki

**A/N: AHHH! I think my brain is fried...like completly fried. I had a huge exam in my math class and I got so wrapped up trying to make sure I didn't fail that I didn't even notice how much time went by. Stupid math...I hate math. The good news is, I don't think I failed. In other news, the poll is still up for another three days so please vote. The winner gets a oneshot!**

**Chapter 48: Not Strong Enough**

_Mizuki_

"Remind me why we have to go after the old guy?" I complained. Katsumi rolled her eyes.

"Because out of all of us, we're the only ones with enough training and chakra to even have a chance to get Yori back," she reasoned. I sighed. Don't me wrong, I wanted to save Yori, I just really, really, really, REALLY, didn't want to be around Danzo. I mean the jerk tried to kill Itachi.

Not cool.

"He's not far now," I told Katsumi, feeling his chakra. She nodded and we both picked up the pace. It didn't take much longer for the evil monkey-faced old jerk to come into view. Seriously! With his eye open he looks like a monkey!

"We should probably stay a little ways away, unless we want the psycho duck-butt to shish-kabob us with that sword of his," Katsumi said kneeling down. I followed suit and immediately started searching for Madara. Luckily for us, Sasuke and the monkey hadn't notice us yet, so we were safe.

We both watched the fight, amazed at how much scarier it was to be right up in the action rather than watching it on a screen or reading it. Well Katsumi thought it was scary, I wanted to try cheering for Sasuke. Not that I liked the duck-butt, he was just Itachi's brother and he was fighting Danzo. Don't tell me you wouldn't want to do the same thing!

Suddenly Katsumi's hand went to her eyes. Her teeth clenched and she got all tense. She was having a vision. I moved to try and help her, but in that moment I felt him. Madara. He was here. I looked at Katsumi. I couldn't just leave her here like this, but this could be our one chance to get Yori back.

Reluctantly, I stood up and moved towards him. Sasuke and Danzo were so focused on each other that neither of them noticed me slip behind them to Madara's position. Unfortunately I can't say the same for Madara...

"I knew you were here," he told me. I snorted.

"I knew when you popped in to there!" I countered sticking my tongue out at him. He shook his head.

"None of you seem to understand how in over your heads you all are. Foolish children," he said. I glared at him.

"Hey, I'm not a child! I'm a young lady, get it right!" I snapped. He didn't say anything, but a moment later, I could feel him move. I turned just in time to jump away from him. He had moved behind me. I prepared to retaliate, but then a rock came out of no where and knocked the kunai knife from his hand.

"Mizuki!" Kitty!

"Are you ok?" I asked her as she got closer. She looked tired and worn out, but prepared for a fight.

"I'm fine, I'll tell you about it later," she told me. I nodded, refocusing on Madara.

"Enerugi and Hato, two of the Pieces of the Path," Madara said in an almost thoughtful voice.

"Give us back Yori!" I snapped. He just chuckled.

"Sorry girls, but it appears I need to claim what's mine," he said beginning to fade. We both turned around to see that the fight wa over. Madara was going to Sasuke.

"Mizuki, we need to find Rika now, she fought Lei and got hurt, if we don't get to her soon she'll get hurt. I saw Gaara and her being attacked on their way to Naruto and Rika gets hurt," Katsumi told me urgently. Meaning it was either Rika was killed or Yori was stuck with Madara.

"Ugh, why do we always have to make the hard decisions! For once can the choices be something like pancakes or waffles! I'm sick of this!" I groaned. Katsumi gave me a sympathetic smile.

"Come on, we need to save Rika. We stand no chance against Madara right now," she told me. I nodded. She was right. We needed to get stronger before we faced off against the lollipop.

"Your right. I sense them not to far off and I sense the ninja that attack them. They feel like Zetsus," I told her. She nodded and we shot off.

I felt bad about not being able to save Yori, but we were by no means abandoning her. Once we were back with Itachi and the others we would come back with avengeance and save Yori before anything bad could happen to her. That's what friends do after all.

"I'll take care of the Zetsus, you go let Gaara know what happened," Katsumi told me.

"Are you sure Kitty?" I asked her. She still looked weak from the vision.

"Of course. I want to practice my telekinesis after all," she told me smiling. I nodded and ran to where I could feel Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro.

"Mizuki," Temari said sounding surprised. Rika lifted her head from Kankuro's back. It looked like he had been carying her most of the way. Suddenly I remembered what Katsumi said about her vision. She said Rika was passed out, but it looked like she woke up a while ago. I shook my head.

There was no reason for Kitty to lie.

"What happened?" she asked. I gave her the rundown of everything that had happened. Her face fell when I told her that we couldn't save Yori. Yumi was going to be so pissed. Not to mention Kiba.

"Well at least we did all we could. We just aren't strong enough," she said bitterly.

"So what happened with you?" I asked. She looked away.

"Lei," Gaara said, summing it up in one word. I winced. That must not have been pretty.

"Hey, it's safe to move now!" Katsumi called. I nodded. Now all we needed to do is wait for Yumi and then we could regroup and come up with a plan to save Yori.


	49. Chapter 49: Katsumi

**A/N: Ok, so back on track, good stuff. Please vote on the poll, break the tie between Rika and Sai and Lei and Gaara!**

**Chapter 49: From Bad to Worse  
**

_Katsumi_

I bit my lip as Mizuki and I waited for Yumi. Rika had wanted to stay, but Gaara told her to rest. They all went back to where the others were waiting. As we sat I prayed Mizuki didn't ask me about my vision. I didn't wan to lie to her, but it was my only choice.

It wasn't Zetsus attacking I saw, I saw Yori and Lei. Lei was sitting by herself in room and she was crying and clutching her head. The picture of her there like that cracked and then shattered, a vision of Yori taking her place. She was unhurt, but was alone in a dark room. I could feel her fear, but there was no pain.

The door then opened and I saw a dark figure standing in the doorway. They held out their hand to Yori and she took it. I knew the vision could only mean one thing. Yori was going to be free. I hoped that Lei was the figure, but I couldn't understand what the cracking image of her was.

This was the first time my vision has been so confusing. It felt more like a riddle than anything.

I had only lied to Mizuki because I knew that fighting Madara would be pointless and would most likely only get one of us killed or captured. Yori was going to be fine so there was no point in that so I made up a lie. It was the only thing I could think of to get her to live.

I could have told her my real vision, but while she might've believed me, I knew Yumi and Rika would probably think it meant something bad. My visions were always of bad things, but not this one. Not this time. I could feel it. This one was different.

"Hey Kitty?"

"Hm?"

"What do you think is taking Yumi so long?" she asked. I breathed a sigh of relief. I was afraid she was going to ask about the vision. I had never really lied to y friends before and doing so made me feel extremely nervous.

"I don't know. Considering how fast she is, she should have been here by now," I told her. She nodded. Just as we said it Yumi popped in out of no where, making me gasp and Mizuki let out a little scream.

"Jeez a little warning next time!" I snapped. Yumi just waved her hand. She looked aggravated.

"I have some bad news."

"So do we," I told her.

"I know, you couldn't save Yori, but this news is worse." I gaped. I never thought I hear Yumi say that something was worse than her twin getting kidnapped by a psycho.

"What could be worse?" Mizuki asked echoing my thoughts.

"The Kage have decided that we're too dangerous to have around because if we get captured that brings Madara one step closer to his goal so they are sending us to the island with Naruto and Killer Bee!" There was a small moment of silence before Mizuki and I exploded.

"What about Yori?"

"So we'll have to listen to rap all day?"

"The can't do this!"

"Can't we run before they take us?"

"Will you two shut up!" Yumi snapped. We fell silent.

"Look, I know this'll interfere with saving Yori and it really pisses me off, but there's nothing we can do. Even right now, they have someone waiting in the village for us," she told us with a scowl.

"What about the others?" I asked, my thoughts turning to Shikamaru. There was no way I was going to leave him.

"They can't come with us, in fact I'm almost positive that some of them will agree."

"Then how are we going to save Yori?" Mizuki asked. Yumi shrugged looking defeated.

"I don't know, but I know I don't want my sister to spend another minute with that bastard," she growled.

"Maybe Itachi and Deidara can try and find her..." I suggested. Yumi and Mizuki's eyes popped open.

"I mean, if we're stuck going to the island and Shikamaru, Kiba, and Sai are going to be forced to fight in the war, it only makes sense. Both of them were dead in the anime and they could be stong enough to do it," I reasoned.

"Yeah, but the hate each other," Yumi pointed out.

"Oh yeah..." Well there goes my plan, down the drain. Flush...

"Wait! Maybe Itachi can go after Yori and Deidara can keep us posted on everything going on! I know he probably won't like it, but it's starting to seem like we're all trapped in corners. This way we can at least know what's going on!" Mizuki pointed out.

"You know that could work. Alright, let's go talk to Rika and Deidara. There's no way we're abandoning Yori. Island or no island." We nodded.

I knew that Itachi wouldn't be needed to save Yori, but at least this way, he could bring her back to us after she gets out. As for the island, I hated to admit it, but it was probably a good idea. We would be safe there long enough for us to get stronger. Maybe we would even be able to train with Naruto and Killer Bee.

This was a good thing, I could feel it.

"WHAT? This is bad, very, very bad!" Rika snapped after Yumi told her everything.

"Yeah, but we figured out a way to make it work and besides it's not like we have a choice," Mizuki said with a shrug.

"But Yori..."

"I know, this sucks." Yumi said clenching her fists. I was actually surprised to see how well she was handling this. She must be really suppressing her urge to just go find Yori on her own. She knew that we still needed her.

"Katsumi, have you had a vision about all of this?" I shook my head, glad I could be honest. Rika sighed.

"Well, since we don't have a choice we should probably let the guys know," she said standing. Her legs were shaky, but she made it back to the room where everyone was waiting. Seeing Shikamaru look over at me and watching his eyes relax a bit made my heart wrench.

This was not going to be easy.

**A/N: Ugh, I feel like this chapter sucks...I'm sorry. In other news, please vote. I'll post again Wednesday!**


	50. Chapter 50: Yori

**A/N: Ah! Today is the last day to vote on the poll! Please do it! DO IT NOW! Sorry, I'm a little riled up. I was talking to someone from my writing group and we were having a nerd fest about corsets...don't ask. And yes, I'm in a writing group, they are actually pretty awesome, my first day there they started talking about robot zombies...anyway onto Yori's chapter!**

**Chapter 50: Fixing What was Broken**

_Yori_

I opened my eyes, rapidly blinking to try and get my eyes adjusted to the light. It had been a day since I had been captured and forced to heal Sasuke's eyes. There were in lights in the room, meaning that if there was light, then someone was here. I squinted and did my best to see who had opened the door.

"You," I breathed. It was Sasuke. He looked down at me coldly, making me feel more than a little uncomfortable. Why was he here?

"You're the girl who healed me?" he asked. I nodded. He gestured for me to follow him. I stood on shaky legs and did what I was told, but I was confused. I really would have rather stayed in the room than go with him, I could feel something in him was broken, something that I didn't know if I could fix.

I followed him through the halls trying to take in as much as possible, that way if I somehow escaped I'd be able to get out. As we entered a large circular room, Sasuke stopped moving. I was so distracted by the room itself that I ran into him without meaning to. He glared at me from around his shoulder.

"Sorry..." I muttered. I was starting to feel like I should act small. I felt like if I tried to be tough, I would only get myself hurt.

"Do you know a girl named Mizuki?" he asked me, breaking the awkward silence between us. I tried not to show my surprise. Then I remembered. Mizuki had met Sasuke when she saved Itachi from being killed by his brother.

"Yes, she's a friend of mine," I told him. He faced me, his cold face impassive. I tried not to meet his eyes, I didn't want anything I did to be mistaken as a threat.

"Do you know if Itachi is still alive?" he asked me. His voice was devoid of emotion, but in that moment I chose to look up. His eyes told a different story. It was like he was actually concerned for his brother. I looked back down.

"Yes. He was badly hurt when he brought him to the village and he almost died, but I was able to save him," I told him honestly. There was a silence then. It stretched on far longer than I would have preferred, but I kept quiet. I even tried to breathe quietly.

From what I knew about Sasuke he was fairly unstable and being so close to him it's like I could feel his instability, like it was something tangible. A part of me wanted to reach out and see if I could fix his heart like I did with his eyes, but I was too afraid to try.

"What do you think you're doing?" a voice snapped from behind me. I turned and felt my face fall. It was Lei.

"Lei," I breathed. Like Sasuke, I could feel her instability, but it felt like there was a crack in her armor, like something had happened to make her doubt herself. Now that I think about it, I think I felt this same feeling when she had taken me to heal Sasuke, I was too distracted to really feel it.

"I asked you a question," she said, her redish brown eyes glaring at Sasuke, who didn't really look like he appreciated her scolding.

"And?" Sasuke said. His voice sounded colder, if that was even possible. I felt like I should get out of there, but there wasn't really much I could do to get away. If I even move they might think I was trying to escape and I didn't really feel like dying anytime soon.

"You know you're not supposed to let her out," Lei said moving forward and grasping my arm.

In that moment it was like I could feel everything she was feeling. She was angry, but mor than that she was struggling. Struggling with what she had done and what she knew she would have to do. It was like she felt like there was no getting away from this.

"Things can always change," I whispered. She looked down at me and for a moment I could've sworn I saw a flash of the old Lei in her eyes, but then it was gone and she started to roughly pull me down the hall.

"Nothing can change this," she said as she threw me back into the room. I looked up at her, saddened by what I could feel. She truly believed that there was no changing this.

She shut the door, leaving me in the darkness. I curled up against one of the walls and sighed. What was happened to me? It was like all of the sudden I could feel everything everyone else was feeling. It was so overwhelming and eye opening at the same time. I wasn't really sure if I liked it or not.

I wondered if it was my abilities growing, like Mizuki's ability to see auras and Yumi's super speed. It was like we were all growing and changing. In a way, it was kind of scary. We didn't know when it would stop and what if our powers ended up causing us to lose it?

I could definitely see that happening to me now that I could feel what other people felt.

There was one thing I knew though, if I didn't get out of here soon, I would go crazy.

**A/N: So I hit 160 reviews! Double chapters! Yay! Also, I realized I completely forgot Gaara's feature chapter! After Lei's chapter, I promise I'll put it in and I apologize for forgetting. Oh, and vote on the poll!**


	51. Chapter 51: Yumi

**A/N: Alright, so this chapter might be a little break from the serious stuff. It'll probably be a little funny and random, I mean come on, their going to be stuck with Killer Bee and Naruto. Alright, now onto the chapter!**

**Chapter 51: From Sea-Sick to Heart-Sick **

_Yumi_

"Ugh! I feel like I'm going to hurl!" I complained leaning over the side of the ship. Mizuki pat me on the back.

"Aw, don't worry Yumi, we're almost there and besides look at how pretty the ocean is!" That was it. I leaned even further over the edge and emptied the contents of my stomach into the 'pretty' ocean. Mizuki made a face and moved away.

"You know, I don't think I've ever seen you get sick before," Rika commented. I glared at her.

"That's because I've never been on a boat. I can handle all sorts of roller coasters and reading in the car, but of course the damn ocean makes me feel like my stomachs a blender on the 'beat' setting," I complained. Katsumi giggled.

"Wow," she said. I just rolled my eyes. It had been three days since Yori was taken. Three days of sleepless nights and constantly worrying. I knew that I could trust Deidara and Itachi to try and find her, but that didn't stop me from wanting to go out there on my own.

"Girls." We all turned and smiled. It was Yamato. I had almost forgotten that he went to the island too. Speaking of, I was actually slightly excited that we were going to meet Naruto. I mean come on, any fan of Naruto would kill for a chance to meet the little twerp.

"Oh my gosh! It's Yamato! Do the face, come on, please!" Mizuki pleaded bouncing up and down. Yamato looked confused so Rika chose that moment to butt in.

"Sorry about her, do you need something?" she asked, diving right in, in typical Rika fashion.

"Um, yes. As you know, we are about to go to war, but Naruto doesn't know about this, we want to keep it that way so he stays on the island," he told us. Rika nodded.

"So you want us to keep quiet about it? We can do that," she told him. He cast a doubtful look at Mizuki, who was trying to reenact the scene from Titanic when they were standing on the bow of the ship...she was playing both parts.

"Now open your eyes," she said in a deep voice. She closed her eyes and then opened them, pretending to be amazed.

"Jack! I'm flying!" I faceplamed.

"Are you sure?" Yamato asked. Rika looked of at Mizuki and then sighed.

"Yeah don't worry, we'll keep her on a leash," she said sounding like she was only semi-kidding.

"Ok then," he said turning away and heading back in the ship. I felt my stomach roll again and moved to puke again.

"Jeez Yumi, you look green," Katsumi commented. I glared at her.

"That's not funny," I told her. She just smiled. In that moment I felt the familiar ache for my sister. If she were here she'd be trying to help me feel better. Maybe she could cure sea sickness, who knew? I mean she seemed to be able to heal everything else.

"Hey guys, I think I can see the island!" Mizuki said pointing off into the distance. We all gathered around her and sure enough we were able to see a faint outline of the island in the distance. I sighed, so this was our glorified prison. Whoohoo.

"Who are you?" We all turned simultaneously.

"Holy bananas! You're Naruto!" Que fangirl shriek. I covered my ears and resisted the urge to slap Mizuki upside the head. Naruto looked confused and slightly uncomfortable as the idiot shot forward and hugged him. I rolled my eyes and pulled her off of him.

"Sorry, she's not house trained yet," I told him. Rika then stepped forward.

"We're going to be helping out on the mission. I'm Rika Furude, this is Yumi Yama, and the idiot it Mizuki Ai," she introduced. Katsumi jumped off of her seat on the railing and stepped forward.

"And I'm Katsumi Tekai. Thanks for forgetting m by the way," she threw Rika's way.

"I just figured those two were too busy to introduce themselves so I did it for them," Rika reasoned. Naruto just looked between all us, not really sure what to do. I guess it didn't help that he couldn't even introduce himself. We all already knew who he was.

"So...wait a second! You are the girls who were taken into the village!" he said suddenly.

"Yep, then I ran away and our other friend came after me and then all this other stuff happened and now we're here!" Mizuki told him.

"Keep in mind that was the edited by an idiot version," I told him.

"We're about to reach the island," Yamato said popping up. I thanked the lord that we were almost to land. I wasn't sure how much more of the ocean I could take. Suddenly my stomach clenched.

"Look out Yumi's gonna hurl!" Mizuki shouted as I ran for the railing. everyone moved out of my path as I dove for the railing.

Did I mention that I hate the ocean? No? Well, it sucks.

"So which one of you did Sai train?" Naruto asked while I tried to reclaim my dignity. Rika raised a hand.

"THat would be me," she told him. He seemed to study her for a second.

"He's right, you are short." Oh no...

For a moment it almost looked like Rika's hair was standing up on it's own. Her violet eyes were almost glowing with rage. Katsumi and Mizuki both moved over to me. We all knew what would happen next. Naruto was going to die. God rest his soul, may he rest in peace.

"I. Am. Not. SHORT!" she said punching him over the edge of the boat. We all peeked over to see if the punch had knocked him out. Luckily he was swimming so I guess he would live another day.

After fishing Naruto out of the ocean we reached the island. Almost immediately, Mizuki went into idiot mode and ran off with Katsumi chasing after her. Rika just followed Yamato and Naruto, leaving me alone on the beach. I looked up at the sky, wondering how much longer he was going to hide in the clouds.

As it turned out, he didn't stay up there much longer.

"Took you long enough, yeah," Deidara said with a smirk. I resisted the urge to slap him.

"Have you guys found her yet?" I asked, skipping right to the point. He shook his head.

"No, it could be a while, un." I groaned.

"I don't think I can survive this level of idiocy for a 'while'," I told him. He just gave me that infuriating smirk again.

"You survived Tobi, yeah," he reminded me. I nodded.

"Good point." He left after that, back to trying to find Yori. I hated to admit it, and I mean, really hated to admit it, but I kind of missed him. Not that I ould ever tell him that, he would never let me live it down if I told him that, but I did.

I guess I had spent so much time with him that I just got used to him being around. Ugh, listen to me. I sound like some sort of heartsick teen, sighing while staring out a window. Bleh. That was definitely not me. I shook my head and looked up at the sky where he had disappeared on a clay bird.

I still hadn't asked him about the kiss.

My face flushed at the memory.

"Yumi?" What the heck are you doing?" Rika called.

"Yeah! You need to see all of these animals! They are so cool!" Katsumi said. I rolled my eyes, but smiled.

"I'm coming, relax," I told them. Just then Mizuki came bursting from the trees, followed by a very angry looking Yamato and Naruto.

"Holy crap, rampage!" I laughed as they ran around the island. Maybe this wouldn't be too bad.

**A/N: So random, I know. This is the last day for the poll! I really need the tie to be broken by SOMEONE! Just please, vote and break the tie! By the way, it's really hard to type serious stuff while listen to Yo Ho by BOTDF...it's actually impossible...**


	52. Chapter 52: Rika

**A/N: So the winner of the poll was Mizuki and Itachi! I'll have the one shot out sometime this week, I promise. Also I'm sorry I haven't posted in so long. First I was busy then I got sick and it's getting close to finals for me and I'm stressing out about my math final, because I hate math and I'm pretty sure I'm going to be speaking in equations for the next three weeks or so. Also, I will be TRYING (keyword is trying) to catch up on all the chapters I've missed but don't be surprised if it takes me some time to update. Just know that I haven't forgotten about this story.**

**Chapter 52: Surrounded by Idiots**

_Rika_

"What the hell did you do Mizuki!" Yumi snapped, slapping Mizuki upside the head.

"Ow! All I did was scare them while they were trying to have a serious conversation!" I gave her a look.

"I seriously doubt they would chase you down for that," I told her. She just smiled and I rolled my eyes. I was sure she did something worse than just scaring them and besides they were two ninjas, I'm not sure the village idiot would be able to sneak up on them.

"Whatever, we need to get settled anyway," I said sighing. I turned and started towards the small house on the island where we would be staying with Naruto and Yamato. I wondered when we would get to meet Killer Bee, not that it was something I was looking forward to, he kind of annoyed me, but it would still be cool to meet him.

"Hey Rika," Katsumi said quickening her pace to match mine.

"Hm?" I prompted her. Her blue eye looked tense.

"Do you think the guys will be alright?" she asked. My heart werenched as I thought about Sai. I really wasn't sure how things would go, especially after we made so many changes to the storyline. I guess we kind of failed in the whole 'let's try not to interfere' plan. I blame Mizuki.

"Well, if something bad is going to happen I'm sure you'll see it, right?" I asked. She nodded, but she didn't really look to sure of herself. Recently, Katsumi had been acting really weird, it was like she was on edge about something. Knowing her, it probably had something to do with Shikamaru, though I wasn't sure why she hadn't tried talking to me about it.

"Rika, I think we need to invest in a leash for Dumbo over here. I finally figured out why they were chasing her," Yumi said walking over. I sighed.

"Why?" Suddenly the ground started to shake. I grabbed a tree to steady myself and then looked over to see the freaking biggest stampede I had ever seen in my life, not that I've seen too many stampedes though.

"That's why!" Yumi snapped starting to run. We all followed after her though it was a little hard with the ground shaking in all. Maybe we really did need to invest in a leash. Either that or we would just need to tie her to a tree until we can leave this stupid island.

"This is kind of fun!" Mizuki giggled as we ran.

"Are you kidding? This is awful! It's only second to that time you set the computer lab at school on fire!" Katsumi stated.

"Hey, that was not my fault! The computer was being stupid so I hit it and it exploded!"

"Will you guys shut up!" I snapped getting more and more aggravated. It was times like these that made me miss Lei, maybe if she were here I wouldn't feel like I was surrounded by idiots.

"Can't someone do something?" Yumi asked. I thought about it for a second.

"Katsumi, can't you try, I don't know, moving them with your mind?" I asked her. She looked at me like I was crazy.

"It's hard enough lifting something small and you're asking me to lift an entire herd of charging animals?" Well when she put it that way...

"Maybe Yumi could do that speed thing?" Mizuki suggested.

"And how would that help?" Yumi asked.

"Well you could move us somewhere out of the way of charging animals," she said. I had to admit, she had a point. Yumi groaned.

"Fine, but I'm going to drag you into ever rock I find while I'm moving you!" She snapped, and then she was gone. I literally blinked a second later and then we were somewhere in the jungle...and my butt hurt.

"Ow! I thought you were kidding?" Katsumi said rubbing she shoulder. Yumi just smirked.

"Nope."

"Well at least we got away from the stampede," I said shooting a glare at Mizuki, who was nonchalantly whistling a happy tune.

"We should probably find Naruto and Yamato again," Katsumi said. I sighed, she was right.

"Yeah, but the second we get their I vote we get there I vote we tie stupid to the bed," Yumi said. Mizuki put her finger to her lips.

"Hm...sounds kinky."

"Are you guys alright?" We all turned to see Naruto and Yamato land in front of us. I guess that solved the problem of finding them.

"Yeah, just a few bumps from being ragged into rocks," I told them. They looked a little confused, but decided to ignore it.

"Come on we need to get everyone settled before we start the mission," Yamato said giving us a pointed look. Well actually it was more like he gave Mizuki a pointed look, but still.

I sighed as we walked back, glad that we had managed to avoid being stepped on by freaking crazy animals. I wasn't sure how long we were going to be stuck here, but I hoped that we would be able to leave soon. I had overheard Yumi talking to Deidara earlier so I knew that they hadn't found Yori yet.

I hoped she was ok.

I hoped Lei hadn't hurt her.

"Hey Rika, are you ok?" Katsumi asked placing a hand on my shoulder. I just nodded.

"Yeah, just thinking. Come on, we're falling behind," I told her quickening my pace. I could still feel her worried eyes on me. She knew that I was not ok.


	53. Chapter 53: Lei

**A/N: Ok so, since I'm trying to catch up, there should be two or three more chapter after this. Please give my fingers strength so that I may be able to manage to type that much. In other news, I have o take my cat to the vet tomorrow. She has a urinary tract infection and keeps peeing everywhere. I'm a little nervous just because I don't know how serious it is...anyway, chapter time.**

**Chapter 53: **

_Lei_

"Your blows aren't as strong as they were before. Are you getting weaker?" Madara taunted me as I stood panting across from him. He had decided to train me one on one today and had, in turn, beaten the crap out of me. He was right though, the rage I had felt before was fading. It was like what happened with Gaara was getting to me.

I shook my head.

No, I had to be strong, I had to. Especially if I wanted to end all of this. I would have to be able to beat Yumi, Mizuki, Katsumi, and Rika with no help. That was the way everything had to be, I knew it. Clenching my teeth, I took my stance. I wasn't going to let him get the best of me this time.

"Madara," a voice said from the entrance to the arena. I scowled and looked over at him. Sasuke. I didn't like him before we came to this world, now I just plain hated him. Every chance he got it felt like he tried to get the better of me. Like when he had taken Yori out without asking anyone.

"Ah, Sasuke. Lei, continue training on your own, then go feed your friend," he told me leaving. I growled. Of course he was leaving, he had Sasuke now. Compared to him, I was just a little pet. Damn him.

I continued to train, practicing my jutsu more than anything else. I had gotten stronger at taijutsu, but I still couldn't match anyone else in genjutsu or ninjutsu. As I trained I thought about Yori, all alone in that dark room. Though she had been in there fro days, she had somehow managed to stay sane. It actually kind of surprised me, though it made my job harder.

She would still try and talk to me every time I went in there, telling me that there had to be another way. I did my best to ignore her, but it was like she was making me hope for the impossible, though I knew in the end I would only be disappointed.

After I finished training, I grabbed some food and started toward her room. I had to steel myself every time I walked in there so I wouldn't react when she looked at me with those big soft pink eyes. She was not my friend. She was not someone I should care for. She was my enemy.

I had to repeat all of those things over and over again in my mind as I watched her eat.

"Yori," I said opening the door. She looked up at me and blinked a couple of times before smiling. I bit my lip to keep from returning her smile.

"Hello Lei. Nice to see you," she greeted me warmly. I didn't say anything. I just set the tray down and stepped back. I was told that I couldn't leave her alone to eat in case she was doing something that may help her escape.

She ate slowly, though I knew she was hungry. I think she just didn't want to eat too fast and get sick. She did keep looking at me though. Her eyes were curious as they scanned my bruises from training with Madara. I could tell they bothered her, but I left them uncovered anyway.

"Do you want me to heal you?" she asked. I shook my head. I always said no when she offered. I was afraid if she touching me I would break down and cry and tell her how sorry I was for everything. I knew that was what she wanted, but I had to restrain myself.

There was no escaping this fate. At least not for me.

"You know everyone misses you," she said suddenly. I gave her my best cold look.

"How do you know?" I asked. She just stared at me/

"Because we all went to Suna to find you, we were worried that you were in trouble and so we traveled all that way, got everyone together and went after you," she told me. For a moment I pictured all of them bickering and arguing as they were on their way to save me. If only they would have made it sooner.

"Lei, we still love you," Yori said. I bit my lip to keep from crying as I looked at her. Her pink eyes were soft, but determined. Yori had gotten so strong since we came here. She was so much more of a presence now. She knew how to fight for what was important to her.

I felt proud of her.

"Well, your love is wasted," I told her picking up the empty tray. I did my best to blink back the tears as I shut the door to her room. Leaving her in the dark once more.

**A/N: Ugh, why do all of Lei's chapters end up short! Bleh! Please forgive me for the shortness of this chapter. Next up is Gaara's chapter, because I forgot to write it last cycle...oops. That one might not be posted today, but it will be posted before Thursday.**


	54. Chapter 54: Gaara

**A/N: Ugh, someone please tell me it's Saturday! I really want it be to be Saturday already because I'm going to be hanging out with my friends and we're going to a haunted cemetery in a really pretty forest and we're going to take pictures and pretty much just have fun! It'll be a good break from school, which is still kicking my butt...hard. Anyway, here's Gaara's chapter! Sorry this is late...**

**Chapter 54: How Do I Save You?**

_Gaara_

"Are you sure you're alright?" my brother asked me. I nodded, still thinking about Lei. I saw so much of myself in her. It was like she too was trapped inside her own head, filled with so much anger and hatred that her only option was to lash out. I wanted to go find her, I wanted to do for her what Naruto did for me.

I wanted to save her.

Unfortunately, I didn't have time for that now. The war had officially broken out and the Allied Shinobi Forces needed me to lead them, I had to leave Lei to Rika and the others, but I wasn't sure if they were going to be enough. Behind my eyes, I kept seeing her face when she told me that there was no escaping this.

She had been looking at me, as though begging for me to prove her wrong.

To be honest, I wasn't even sure why I cared so much. When I had first met Lei, I had seen that darkness and knew that it was my job to save her, but now it wasn't just my retribution, it was like I had a need to save her, just because I wanted to see her relax and smile.

"So what are you going to say?" Temari asked. I didn't answer. I wasn't completely sure myself. I needed to address the Joint Shinobi Force as their commander, something I never imagined myself doing. I had come so far since I had been saved.

No longer was I hated and feared, I was finally seen as something human, something I had wanted all my life. I lifted my hand and touched the character on my head. 'Love'. As a child, that was all I wanted, but so many people had betrayed me, forcing me to give up on love.

I could tell Lei had given up as well. The thought broke my heart. I knew how it felt to believe there was no hope for love, but there was always someone willing to come after you, someone willing to save you. I wanted to be that person for Lei and even though this war was holding me back, I knew that I wouldn't give up on her.

"Gaara?" Temari said. I looked at her. I think I knew what I was going to say now.

"Yes, I think I do," I told her. She gave me a reassuring smile and then left to join the rest of the army. Kankuro hesitated for a moment.

"We believe in you Gaara," he told me. He then smiled and left the room. 'Love'. If I hadn't have been so blind I would have known that my siblings loved me. They always had, even when I was a monster. Just like how Lei's friends still loved her.

"I think I've finally found her," a voice said from behind me. I turned and faced Itachi Uchiha. Though I knew he was no longer a member of the Akatsuki, I still struggled to trust him. I would never trust the other one. He had been the one who had attacked my village and killed my people. For that, I wouldn't forgive him.

"Have you told the others?" I asked him. Itachi shook his head.

"There is still a chance that I won't be able to retrieve Yori and I don't want to get their hopes up," he told me. I nodded. The Uchiha's eyes followed me as I shifted further from him. Those eyes unsettled me and they reminded me too much of his brother. Another soul consumed by revenge and hatred.

"What about Lei?" I asked him. His face was impassive as he continued to stare.

"She has made her choice," he informed me. I looked down. I wanted to tell him that she had only made that choice because she felt like it was the only one, but I knew it wouldn't do anything to change his mind. He only knew that she had turned her back against Mizuki and had hurt her.

Though he didn't show it, I could tell her cared very deeply for the girl. He stayed close to her at all times and was almost always watching her. It was even more obvious that she loved him, mainly because she stated it when ever she thought he wasn't paying attention.

I wondered what it would feel like to know that someone loved me so openly. Someone who risked their lives to safe me and someone who wouldn't leave my side, even when someone she cared about was in trouble. That level of devotion was unfathomable to me.

"So what are you going to do?" I asked him.

"I'm going to try and retrieve Yori and bring her to the island with the others. From there we will see what they want to do," he said. Before I could answer him, his body dissolved into ravens and he was gone.

Unconsciously, I reached up and touched my lips, remembering when I had kissed Lei. I really wasn't sure why I did it. It was something I had never done before, but it was like my body had acted without me. I had just wanted to be closer to her, to do something to get her attention.

I still remembered her face when I had let her go. She wanted me to save her, she needed me to save her and I would. I would bring her back to the light no matter what.

**A/N: Gah, emotion! I actually had fun writing this chapter, though I hope it's good. One more chapter today and then I'm going back to the usual schedule. I promise I won't fall off the wagon this time!**


	55. Chapter 55: Mizuki

**A/N: My cat is being so weird today, she's actually being social *gasp*! I kind of like it, though don't tell her because then she'll go back to being anti-social. =P This is another filler type chapter, but it's Mizuki. So, here we go!**

**Chapter 55: Train Me Bee! **

_Mizuki_

"I'm so excited!" I said bouncing up and down as we were led into the hotel type place we were staying in. Rika pinched the bridge of her nose to keep from yelling at me, but to be honest nothing couldn't dampen my mood. I was going to get to meet Killer Bee!

Can you say 'EEK'? Be jealous fangirls!

"Will you hush already! You've already caused enough problem today, I just want to sleep," Yumi snapped. I stuck my tongue out at her, earning me a giggle from Katsumi.

I was glad that everyone was starting to relax a little bit, even though we all still missed Yori and were worried about her. There was simply nothing we could do at the moment. We were stuck on an island with the last two living jinchuriki, which was actually pretty cool when you think about it, maybe they would even train us!

"Earth to Mizuki?" Rika said waving her hand in front of my face. I blinked a couple times and then focused on her. Her violet eyes looked tired and strained. Most likely it was because of the stampede I caused by scaring the snot out of these elephant type creatures.

"Yeeessss?" I asked stretching out the word. I even batted my eyes a couple times trying to get her to smiled. Rika rolled her eyes, but she was trying to hold back a smile. Mission accomplished!

"This is your room, please try and behave," she said, slightly begging. I scoffed.

"Please, I always behave!" I told her. Yumi scoffed and I shot her a glare. She just ignored me. Rika just gave me another worried look and then her, Yumi, and Katsumi left me. I sighed.

I missed Itachi. I wondered how he was doing. To be honest I really didn't know how he was able to survive without my constant presence, I mean it must be weird for it to be silent after traveling with me for so long, not to mention Bruce the Shark. (Fish are friends, not food!)

As I flopped down on my bed, I heard a sound from outside. I sat up and pressed my ear to the wall the bed was pushed up against. I could here two people talking...the voices sounded kind of familiar. Hm. This called for one thing and one thing only!

Stealth mode, activate!

As quietly as I could, I moved to my door, which of course meant, I tripped over the rug and let out a string of foul cures after stubbing my toe against the door frame. Seriously, someone should just scout me for the C.I.A already. I was obviously the best spy in the world.

After my toe recovered, I opened my door a crack and peered out to see...holy mother of snipes...

"KILLER BEE!" I said, throwing the door open. Naruto and Killer Bee turned to give me a confused look. Naruto's face almost immediately fell once he realized it was just me.

"Yo, who's this chick?" Bee asked. I ran over to him before Naruto could say anything and saluted.

"I am Mizuki Ai, at your service!" I introduced. Neither of them said anything, they just stared. I sighed.

"Oh come on, that entrance was awesome, you should all be applauding or laughing, I would even except an awestruck silence," I told them placing my hands on my hips.

"WHAT'S WITH ALL OF THE DAMN NOISE!" A familiar voice snapped. The door to the room across the hall then slammed open, revealing a very angry looking Yumi.

"Morning Yumi!" I greeted.

"It's not morning you idiot, it's midnight!" she snapped irritably. I frowned. Someone obviously wasn't a morning person.

"What are you all doing out here?" Katsumi asked peeking her head out from behind the door next to Bee's.

"Heya Kitty, I was just about to ask Killer Bee if he could train me when Yumi rudely burst in," I said giving Yumi a pointed look. She just started sputtering and looking like she wanted to slam something heavy into my head.

"What? Train you, don't be a fool!" Killer Bee said. I sighed and shook my head, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I understand spending time with me, might intimidate you, but don't worry, I'm actually pretty serious," I said giving him my best serious voice.

"Yeah, seriously annoying," Yumi growled.

"Can you guys just go to bed already! Jeez, we've been here, what? Five hours? Six tops? And we've already had to defend Mizuki from Yamato and Fox Boy over there, not to mention outrun a stampede, and now I can't get any sleep because you are all out here making noise!" Rika snapped, appearing next to Yumi. We were all quiet.

It was kind of hard to follow something like that.

"Well...I'm getting kind o tired, I think I'm going to sleep, you all should too, and Bee, I'll meet you tomorrow bright and early to train!" I said before shutting myself in my room. I could hear Yumi's frustrated growl as she slammed her door, which was followed by the sound of three more doors closing quietly.

I moved over to my bed and stopped to reach into my pack and pull out my Itachi plushie. I stared at it, missing the real thing, though I knew he wouldn't let me sleep on him like the plushie would. I sighed. He needed to find Yori soon so I could go back to being his clingy girlfriend.

Wait...

Was I his girlfriend?

Hm. Good question, I had to remember to remind myself to ask him that when I saw him next, though with my luck, I'd get distracted and next thing you know we would all be running for our lives again. I smiled remembering the stampede. That was fun, definitely something I would want to repeat. Though don't tell Rika and Yumi, they would kill me.

I settled down in my bed and curled up with my plushie. Tomorrow, I was going to train with Killer Bee!

**A/N: So I might be changing things up. I really like writing for the boys too so I've been thinking about doing a chapter for one of them after the girls' chapters, so after this one will be Itachi. I'll test it out in this cycle, I just thought I'd let everyone know first!**


	56. Chapter 56: Itachi

**A/N**:** READ THIS! Ugh, I am so behind! It's ridiculous! I guess that's the price I pay for being in college. =P I finally finished my finals, so now I can update more, but I'm also starting my summer job. I'm probably only going to be able to update on the weekends so just be prepared for that. Just know that no matter what, I haven't forgotten this story! Also the one shot has been posted and it is called Only One in Color, please read it and review!**

**Chapter 56: **

_Itachi_

She was asleep.

After leaving the Kazekage, I went to the island, even though I told him I wasn't going to. I wasn't sure why I felt like I needed to, but somehow I had ended up looking down at Mizuki while she slept. Her curly red hair was fanned out, contrasting sharply with the white of the pillow case and she had one arm slung over her face, covering her eyes.

She also had something next to her that looked suspiciously like me.

"Itachi," she muttered shifting in her sleep. Was she dreaming of me? Or was she waking up?

Either way I needed to leave. The sun would be up soon and I wanted to be close to Madara's lair before then. I silently moved from the room and started to the door. It had been exceedingly simple getting into the building, making me worry. What if someone came after them? Would they be protected.

"What are you doing here?" A familiar female voice said from behind me. I turned and faced the small girl with the long dark hair and violet eyes. Her name was Rika and she appeared to be the leader of their group, but I also sensed a deep sadness in her, reminding me of something Mizuki told me when she was talking about her friends one night.

(Flashback)

_"Yumi and Yori are practically connected at the hip. I almost never see one of them without the other. I remember when I first met them they even moved together, but they are still really different. Yori is really sweet and quiet and she seems really innocent. Yumi on the other hand can be a jerk. She's always hitting me upside the head, or angry-sighing, that's the worst kind of sighing you know, but I can tell she loves me," Mizuki told him, her face glowing in the firelight._

_"Then there's Kitty, she can be a lot of fun, but for some reason she gets embarrassed a lot. I'm not really sure why, I mean a lot of the times the things she does aren't that embarrassing, but she always freaks out and grows mushrooms for a day or two. Finally there's Rika and Lei, Lei is kind of our leader. She's the only reason we haven't gotten our butts thrown in jail and Rika is like her best friend. They tell each other anything. I think Rika would be really sad if she lost Lei."_

(End Flashback)

"Are you going to answer or not?" Rika asked impatiently, bringing me back to the present.

"I wanted to see Mizuki," I told her honestly. Some of her anger faded.

"Well don't tell anyone you slipped past me, I couldn't sleep so I told them I would take the watch for the night," she told me. That explained the lack of guard. Rika's hearing far exceeded anything he had ever heard of. She had probably heard me come in and had known it was me the whole time.

"Have you found Yori yet?" Rika asked suddenly. For a moment I almost lied and told her I hadn't. I didn't want to get all of their hopes up just to fail, but I knew that Rika would keep it to herself.

"We might have. Deidara and I are going to see if she'd there now," I told her. She screwed up her face and then smirked at me.

"You and Deidara? You guys had better not kill each other or else I feel like you'll start world war three between Mizuki and Yumi," she told me. I felt himself smirk at that. Knowing them, she was most likely right.

"The two of us both agreed on a temporary truce," I told her. Though that wasn't completely true. I had just decided not to engage the younger Akatsuki member. Still, Rika nodded.

"Good, now you had better go and no matter what happens, come back and tell me everything," she ordered. I knew what she was doing. She was also dropping a subtly hint that we had better come back. I hoped for the same thing.

There was a time when I had wanted to die and that I had wanted my brother to do it, but after Mizuki saved me I realized that maybe I didn't deserve to die just yet. There was still a lot I could do for this girl and I planned on doing it. I wanted her to be happy more than anything and if postponing my death would do it, then that was what I was going to do.

As long as she wanted me, I would live.

"I will," I told Rika, before leaving. I felt her eyes on me the whole way out. I knew she was worried. She didn't want to see her friend hurt anymore than I did, but Deidara and I were the only people who could do this. The Leaf Shinobi and the Kazekage were preparing for war and the rest of the girls were stuck here.

"You sure took your time, yeah," Deidara said as I approached. I ignored him and just climbed onto the other clay bird he had made. I was almost positive he would have loved to use it to kill me, but he knew that if he did it would only cause problems with Yumi and as psychotic as he seemed, he cared for her, though he would never say it aloud.

I, on the other hand, planned to. I wanted to tell Mizuki how I felt, but I was going to wait until this was over. That way I would have a reason to go on living.

"I'll come back," I muttered and I meant it. I wasn't going to leave her behind.


	57. Chapter 57: Katsumi

**A/N: Ok, so like I said, from now on I will primarily be updating on weekends. Thanks to my exhausting work schedule that's pretty much the only time I have to write and it more than kind of sucks. I really am sorry for how long it has been taking me to update and I really am trying to do better, but it's just hard with life and everything. In other news, this is the last cycle of this story! Do you know what that means? Yep, this is a trilogy. I know, it's kind of weird, but the last story will be fairly short (maybe only three cycles) and then everything will wrap up! I finally figured out how I'm going to end it and I'm so excited, so please keep reading and reviewing!  
**

**Chapter 57: Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger  
**

_Katsumi_

"Ugh, I feel like I didn't get any sleep at all last night," Yumi complained as she wandered into the small dining room. Rika, Mizuki, and I were already dressed and ready for the day and had been for a while. Though none of us said anything, I think we all had some trouble sleeping. I had woken up repeatedly after having nightmares about Shikamaru and what could happen. I think the only reason I was still clam was the fact that if something were really going to happen, I would have had a vision.

"So what are we even going to do today?" I asked Rika, while Yumi dug into her breakfast. Rika rubbed her tired violet eyes and looked at me.

"We're going to train. The last time we went up against Madara he kicked our butts, even Lei kicked our butts, we need to be able to handle ourselves in a fight and the only way we can do that is by training," she reasoned.

"But who's going to teach us? Naruto and Killer Bee are doing the whole jinchuriki thing and all the other ninjas are trying to guard this place," Yumi said.

"What about Yamato? He's not doing anything, right?" Mizuki asked. Rika nodded.

"Yeah that could work, but you are going to have to keep your mouth shut!" Rika said eyeing Mizuki, who just smiled and popped a dumpling into her mouth.

We were all quiet after that, all lost in our own thoughts. I thought about the war and what was to come. Were we going to have to fight? Was that the real reason why we needed to train? And what if one of us got hurt? We could die if we didn't have Yori here to heal us. Maybe that was why Madara had taken her. I wanted to groan in frustration. All of this was becoming so overwhelming.

"Come on, we need to find Yamato so we can start training," Rika said breaking the silence and standing up. We all followed her silently. Knowing her, she was probably listening for him and that was how she knew where to find him, so it didn't take us long to track him down.

He was with Naruto and Killer Bee, at the waterfall. We all knew that Naruto was facing himself while Bee and Yamato waited, thanks to our otaku tendencies.

"Yamato!" Rika called out, without the formalities. The cat eyed man looked over at us and gave us a small smile.

"What are you girls doing out here this morning?" he asked. Rika's eyes remained hard.

"We came to ask you if you could train us," she told him. He frowned as his gaze shifted towards Naruto.

"Sorry girls, but I have to keep an eye on Naruto," he told us.

"Yo, I can take him off your hands, because when it comes to training, I'm the man!" Killer Bee interjected. Mizuki giggled and started clapping, but Yamato and Rika both looked like they wanted to punch him in the face.

"So...can we start now?" Yumi asked, a hopeful note in her voice. Yamato sighed, but nodded. I smiled. We were finally going to start training.

For a moment I felt a small pang of sadness in my chest. Shikamaru used to be the one who trained me and I missed spending time with him. He taught me everything that I knew and was most likely the only reason I had survived for so long. Though I knew him loving me was hopeless, I was glad to at least have been able to call him my sensei.

"So...how is this going to work?" Yumi asked, cracking her knuckles.

"Ooh! Can we break board with our fists! I have always wanted to do that!" Mizuki said. We all gave her a look.

"Um, Mizuki, you can already do that," Rika reminded her. She placed a finger to her lips.

"Oh yeah...oops, well then, can we break a tree with our fists?" Yamato sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. I had to admit, I felt kind of bad for him. Of all the people to get stuck training with he got us.

"No. I was told that you all have special abilities that don't use chakra, so what we are going to do is focus on your control and how you are going to use them in battle. The more you can use your abilities the more chakra you will conserve and the longer you can fight." We all nodded in understanding.

"So, what can you all do?" he asked.

"I'm able to hear things from really far away and typically I know exactly what they are. I've learned to figure out how people's different footsteps sound so I can always know who is where," Rika told him. He nodded and then looked to Yumi.

"I can run faster than anyone and if I focus hard enough I can vibrate my molecules at a speed that makes everything else look like it's standing still, or at least that's how Rika explained it," she said with a shrug.

"Ooh! I can find anyone anywhere just by their energy! Like right now I know that Itachi is with Deidara and they are heading west. I can also see peoples auras, which is like this ring of color surrounding people that lets me know how they feel. Yours is really prickly and a strange shade of red. I think that means your irritated? Is something wrong?" Mizuki asked. Yamato looked like he was gritting his teeth, but he shook his head. I just resisted the urge to smile.

"And you?" he said turning to me.

"I have visions of things that are going to happen. I never know when I'm going to have one and when I have one I'm completely incapacitated. I can always move things with my mind," I told him. Just to demonstrate, I twitched my hand and a kunai knife came floating out of my pouch. With another twitch of my fingers, it had lodged itself in the nearest tree. Yamato nodded.

"Alright, it seems like all of you have some pretty useful abilities. It's no wonder Madara is out to get you. But you all need to learn how to control these abilities well enough to be able to fight and use jutsu at the same time," he told us. We all listened as he explained to each of us individually what he wanted us to do.

Rika was assigned to run laps around the island, while always listening to Yamato. After everything lap she would have to stop and tell her what he was whispering during the lap. This would help her multi-task and would build her stamina. Yumi needed to learn how to fight as fast as she could run, so she was taught some basic taijutsu moves and had to practice them slow and then fast, without losing her technique. Mizuki had been assigned to catch three wild cats that were roaming the area. Since she had the most battle training of all of us, this would give Yamato an idea of where her skill level was and how much she could focus.

As for me, I was training with weapons. I needed to learn how to use my telekinesis while fighting hand to hand or using jutsu, so while using my power to throw my weapons at targets, I also had to walk on water. I wasn't allowed to stop moving for an instant and I had to keep funneling my chakra to my feet. If I lost focus at all, I would either miss my target, fall threw the water, or get yelled at for holding still.

It wasn't easy and by the time we had taken a break to eat and get some water, all of us were exhausted.

"You girls are getting better, but you are no where near where you need to be to face Madara," Yamato told us. We didn't say anything, we were all still panting slightly from the exertion.

Just as we were getting ready to get back to training, the earth shook. I fell over and grabbed onto the nearest tree.

"What's happening?" Mizuki asked.

"I don't know!" Yamato, who was the only one who hadn't needed to grab anything for support looked up at the sky.

"We're being attacked," he told us. We looked at each other, confused.

"By what?" Rika asked.

"Look," and we all did, only to see the one thing we didn't suspect. Yumi gasped behind me.

"Deidara?"


	58. Chapter 58: Shikamaru

**A/N: So, I'm really sorry about all of the chapter issues I've having. It's all because of my job. Anyway, after this cycle I'm ending this story and then I will start the next and final installment of the series. I hope everyone will read it because I've noticed less people reading this. =/  
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**Chapter 58: Unfamiliar  
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_Shikamaru_

"What dot you mean they were attacked? I thought the island was supposed to be safe?" I asked my father as he relayed the information. Apparently the island we had left Katsumi and the others on had been attacked by none other than Deidara.

Luckily the girls and the other ninja were able to fight them off, but apparently Katsumi had gotten hurt in the fight. A fact that made me want to abandon my post and go to the island. What was happening to me. The war should be the most important thing right now and yet all I could think about was Katsumi.

This was getting really troublesome.

"That is what we thought, but somehow he slipped through. The silver haired girl was wounded when she tried to use her powers to throw a bomb back at him. Apparently, her control faltered and it exploded near her. She has burns on her arm, but other than that, it was nothing to serious." I flinched. Damn the Akatsuki.

I knew we couldn't trust them, but Katsumi and the other girls had thought that everything would be fine and that they had changed, but they were S-Class criminals, who had killed in cold blood, just like Hidan had killed Asuma. For a moment I pictured Deidara killing Katsumi and I felt my heart clench in my chest.

"Shikamaru, do you love that girl?" my father asked suddenly. I looked up at him, he was serious. I scoffed and shook my head.

"I'm not like you dad," I told him. He smiled.

"But you want to go to her, keep her safe, do everything you can to make sure nothing happens to her. The thought of losing her terrifies you, doesn't it? It makes you feel sick." I ignored him. Everything he had said was true, but that didn't mean I loved her.

I owed her.

When Asuma had died, she had been there to help me, and she had even gone on the mission to kill him with me when she didn't have to. She put herself at risk for me, and I owed her. Nothing more. If anything, she was only a friend. Besides, I had always said that I would one day marry a normal girl and live a normal life. Katsumi was not normal.

She was the reincarnation of a woman who lived years ago and was forced to give up her life to safe the Sage of the Six Paths. She was strange and got embarrassed easily and could be a little bit of an idiot. Not to mention that fact that her friends were all insane.

But at the same time, she was caring and quiet, listening when she needs to and speaking up whenever she had something to say. She didn't shy away form emotion and wasn't afraid to step up even when she stood no chance of winning.

She was also beautiful. Her electric blue eyes were wide and innocent, though she had seen so much. And her hair...that silver hair, that when she released it from her bun, fell around her in waves that looked like moonlight. She was so small and looked almost frail, but then she was fierce when she would stand her ground against her enemies.

I groaned.

Maybe I really did love her?

"Dad, when did you know you loved mom?" I asked. He seemed surprised that I had asked, but he remained calm.

"I knew when I realized I would do anything to protect her."

Would I do anything to protect Katsumi? I thought about her, her smile, her face, everything about her and then the answer was so clear.

Yes. I would do anything to protect her. And she was out there, on that island, hurt.

"Son, I know how you feel, you want to go to her, be there for her, but we need you here. She'll be safe on the island," my father told me, reading me like a book. Was I really becoming so predictable? Was that what it meant to love a woman? Ugh, I had only just found out and it was already becoming troublesome.

"The island has already been attacked once," I pointed out. My father nodded.

"Yes, but she's stronger than you give her credit for. Yamato has taken over training them and he's even been helping them control their powers. Once those girls learn control, they will be unstoppable. Until then, they have ninja all over the island and two strong jinchuriki present. I know you want to protect her, but the village must come first and we need you here," he told me.

I sighed. He was right. I just wished there could be a way for me to tell her.

I already knew how she felt about me. I could see it in her eyes every time we would talk and I knew how much she wanted to hear me say that I loved her, but I would just have to live to tell her once this was all over.

"Fine, I'll stay," I told my father. He nodded and then left.

Tomorrow we were going to begin the war, but everything felt different. Before I had just wanted to live just for the village, but now I wanted to live for her. So I could tell her everything and so I could kiss her. I shook my head. I never really thought I would be like my father and fall in love with a women who could kick me around, not that I thought she would, but I had wanted something so different.

Instead I had Katsumi Tekai.

And I was oddly happy about it.


End file.
